Turn Coat
by Ex-Shark-Virtue-005
Summary: Ribbons manages to convince Tieria to defect from Celestial Being. What will that mean for Celestial Being and Tieria? Would he be able to live with himself if his comrades were to be injured by his hands...
1. Pushed to Exhaustion

Konnichiwa Minna-san! I've come up with another Gundam 00 fic! This one might be slightly different from my others. For one, it might change rating depending on where I go with it. Two while it will follow the story line of the second season, however it will be alternate universe. So after the disclaimer, you can get started.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam 00 or the characters but Veda is being nice and allowing me to borrow them for a while.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter One: Pushed to Exhaustion

Tieria stood in the observation room. He had a lot on his mind and no matter how much he thought about it, there was something he just couldn't understand. He couldn't figure out just who Regene Regetta was. He could see his own face in him which made sense because he had been told that they shared the same DNA base pattern. But the thing that confused him the most was that there were others like him. There were others that could directly link with Veda. How many where there and why didn't he know anything about them?

He took his glasses off and leaned over to press his forehead against the cool glass. It had been about two days since he had met Regene and he had had a nagging headache ever since and he just didn't feel right. Despite how ill he felt, after consulting Haro several different times for a temperature reading, his temperature was actually a bit below normal. He was starting to feel a bit worse so he sat down for a while, hoping that the dizziness would go away.

"There you are Tieria," Allelujah's voice came as the door opened, "Sumeragi's looking for you." He then gasped as he took a closer look at the smaller Meister, "You look awful," He said as he knelt down next to the purple haired boy, "Seriously Tieria…you look really sick. Are you feeling alright?"

"No," Tieria muttered as he shook his head a bit and shut his eyes.

Allelujah took off one of his gloves and placed his hand on Tieria's forehead, "You're…not warm at all…" He said, "I thought for sure you would be burning up…"

"I've asked Haro to check my temperature four times already," Tieria said miserably, "And each time it's come up with thirty-six point five. I can't stand it anymore Allelujah…I don't know what's wrong with me…"

"Maybe you should go to the medical room," Allelujah suggested.

"I have," Tieria said, "There is nothing wrong with me…but I just feel so ill, there must be something wrong with me…ugh, I just don't know what to do anymore."

"You should talk to Sumeragi," Allelujah said as he placed his hand on the smaller Meister's shoulder, "She might be able to help you."

Tieria nodded, "Will you tell Sumeragi that I'll talk with her a bit later?" He asked softly, "I'm going to lie down for a while, to see if I feel any better."

"That sounds like a good idea," Allelujah said as he helped Tieria stand, "If you're feeling that sick you really should rest. Do you need me to help you?"

"I'll be alright," Tieria said softly as he headed for the door, "Thanks Allelujah."

Allelujah sighed as Tieria left the room. Tieria hardly ever got sick and if he did he would recover quickly. He would spend a day or two in bed and then he would be fine, probably a little tired and listless but well enough to go about his day. But this…this was bad. Allelujah was certain that he had never seen anyone look so absolutely ill before, and Tieria wasn't even sick. //Something must have happened to him the day I went missing// Allelujah thought, //There's no other explanation for why he looks so ill//

"Allelujah," Marie's voice came as the door opened, "Is something wrong?"

"I'm just a little concerned about Tieria," Allelujah said as he picked up the glasses and jacket that had been left there by their owner, "I've never seen him get like that."

"I ran into him as I was coming here," Marie said, "He looks awful, is he sick?"

"He's not sick," Allelujah said, "But he's not at all well either. Would you mind meeting me at Tieria's room? I'm going to go speak to Sumeragi-san." He handed the jacket and glasses to Marie. "Please take these as well."

Marie nodded and took the jacket and glasses, "Do you want me to get him anything else?" She asked, "Some kind of medication perhaps?"

"Just get him an ice pack and a cool cloth for his head," Allelujah said, "Tieria can't have most types of medication, his body rejects it."

Marie nodded, "Alright," She said as she walked from the room.

* * *

Sumeragi was sitting at her desk looking over some of the data that Tieria had complied for her on what had happened while she was absent and on the statuses of the Meisters. "Tieria," She said as the door opened, "There's something I don't quite understand in the data you sent me."

"I'm not Tieria," Allelujah said.

"Allelujah," Sumeragi said, "I thought I told you to go find Tieria. Where is he?"

"He's not feeling very well, so he's lying down for a while," Allelujah said, "Sumeragi-san, there's something very wrong with him. He looks awful, and yet, he's not sick."

Sumeragi stood up, "Tieria's not feeling well?" She asked as Allelujah nodded, "That doesn't happen often…did he tell you what's wrong?"

"He would tell me," Allelujah said, "But he did say that he was feeling really sick and he's just really pale. Something must have happened to him the day I went missing. I really didn't see him when I got back, was he acting strange when he got back?"

Sumeragi thought for a minute, "Not really," She said, "But now that I think about it, he was acting a bit more distant than usual." She sighed, "I didn't think anything of it, I thought he was just dealing with the stress of your disappearance. Are you heading to his room?"

"Yeah," Allelujah said.

"Alright," She said, "I'll meet you there, I'm just going to go get something first."

* * *

Sumeragi sighed as she walked up to Tieria's bed. Like Allelujah had said, even in the low lighting, Sumeragi could tell that Tieria very pale. She placed her hand on his forehead and again just as Allelujah had told her, Tieria's skin was cool.

"Tieria," She said softly, "Allelujah said you weren't feeling very well. What's wrong?"

"I just can't put my finger on it," Tieria moaned, "I've never felt this way before…"

Sumeragi sighed, "Are there any symptoms that you can place?" She asked as he ran her fingers through Tieria's hair.

"A migraine-like headache," Tieria said as he kept his eyes closed, "And every so often I get really lightheaded, almost as if I'm about to faint."

"Have you been eating?" Sumeragi asked. She knew that when Tieria went too long without eating he would suffer from terrible headaches and severe lightheadedness. But she had a feeling that that wasn't what was bothering Tieria so much. She had a feeling that she knew what was wrong with him. She just needed to ask him a few more questions just to be sure.

"I've been nauseous," Tieria said, "I tried to eat something earlier but I really thought that I was going to be sick."

Sumeragi nodded, "Did you at least have something to drink?" She asked.

"Just a bit of water," Tieria said, "But I just felt sicker afterwards."

"Alright," She said, "Have you been getting at least eight hours of sleep in the past few nights?" She also knew that if Tieria didn't get enough sleep he would also suffer from migraine like headaches.

"I haven't been able to sleep much," Tieria said, "It takes me about an hour to fall asleep then I keep waking up."

"I thought so," Sumeragi said, "You're suffering from stress, exhaustion and dehydration. So here's what I'm going to do, I am going to give you something that will help you sleep and put you on an IV since you're not feeling well enough to eat. Is that alright?"

"It's fine but…what about my intolerance to medication?" Tieria muttered.

"Your body can tolerate sleep aids," Sumeragi said, "I've used them on you before."

"You have?" Tieria asked.

"Yeah," Sumeragi said as she played with Tieria's hair a bit, "There were times where we needed you to get some sleep, for your own good."

Tieria sighed and nodded. He just wasn't feeling well enough to argue with Sumeragi.

"Alright then," Sumeragi said, "I'll be right back. Allelujah, will you stay here with him until I get back?"

"Sure," Allelujah said as Sumeragi left the room, "Tieria," He said softly, "Did anything happen to you the day I went missing for a while?" Tieria nodded, "What happened?"

"I met someone," Tieria said softly as he turned on his side. He wasn't sure if it was because he was probably over-hungry, the migraine headache or the high level of stress he was suffering from but whatever the reason, he had a bad stomachache. "And he looked exactly like me…I don't know who he is…or where he's from…but it bothered me to see my face in that man…ugh…"

"What's wrong?" Allelujah asked.

"My stomach…" Tieria moaned as he clutched his stomach.

"I'm back," Sumeragi said as she reentered the room followed by Feldt, "I'll try to get this done as soon as I can so you can get some sleep Tieria. But first I'm going to need you to sit up and drink something. We can't use the intravenous sleep aid with the other treatments we'll be using."

Tieria nodded then slowly sat up hoping that the lightheadedness wouldn't be too bad this time but he was wrong. His head swam so bad that he started to black out. He would have fallen back against his bed however, someone steadied him.

"Take it easy," Allelujah said as he helped Tieria take the cup that was handed to him, "Drink slowly, your stomach is sick and you need to keep this down."

Tieria did what he was told and almost immediately, he felt his eyelids grow heavier. "Sumeragi…how long…" Tieria mumbled barely able to get a coherent sentence out, "How long…will I…be…asleep…?"

"I don't know," Sumeragi said as she placed a damp cloth to Tieria's forehead, "You're probably going to sleep until your body is fully rested. Don't worry about it now, just get some rest."

Tieria nodded then shut his eyes.

Sumeragi sighed after waiting a little bit, "Feldt," She said softly, "Start setting up the IV."

"You waited an awfully long time to do that, Sumeragi-san," Allelujah said.

"I know I did," Sumeragi said, "But Tieria has a fear of needles and it's better if we wait until after he passes out for who knows how long to get it done."

"Tieria's afraid of needles?" Allelujah asked, "I would have never expected that from him."

"I know," Sumeragi said as Feldt finished with the IV, "But to each their own. Well, I'm about to call for a meeting in the briefing room so just head over there."

"It's about Tieria right?" Allelujah asked.

"Yeah, well sorta," Sumeragi said, "Dammit, Tieria choose a _wonderful _time to work himself up to the point where he needed to be sedated in order to calm him down. I swear, he always chooses the _worst _damn time for us to be down a Meister."

"And somehow it's always the time where nothing happens," Allelujah said as he remembered the last time something like this had happened. It had been about four years ago right after Lockon had been injured. Tieria had taken one look at the state that the older Meister had been in, muttered something about it being his fault then passed out.

"Watch," Sumeragi said, "This will be the one time something _does_ happen, just because we only have two fully operational Gundams excluding Tieria's. Well you two can head down to the briefing room, I'll be down there in a few." She said as she used the intercom in Tieria's room to page the rest of the crew.

* * *

Allelujah and Marie were the second to last to enter the briefing room.

"Sumeragi-san will be here shortly," Allelujah said, 'She told me that we'll start once she gets here."

"Hey aren't we missing someone?" Lyle asked, "Where's cute purple-chan?"

"His name is Tieria!" Allelujah snapped uncharacteristically, "He's senior to you and you _will _show some respect towards him!"

"Really?" Lyle asked, "The kid looks so young. I thought he was one of the newer members. Although he does act like the boss around here sometimes, which just gets annoying."

"Tieria's been working for the organization longer than any of us," Allelujah said, "Except maybe Ian-san."

"Wow," Lyle exclaimed, "They let children work for the organization? That seems a bit wrong to me but I'm just sayin'."

"What do you mean?" Allelujah asked.

"Well, the kid looks like he's eighteen at the oldest," Lyle said, "And if he's been workin' here the longest I figured that they must have hired him when he was eight or nine. So how old was he when he started here?"

"Tieria's age is none of your damn business," Sumeragi said as she entered the room followed by Feldt.

"What is this all about Sumeragi Li Noriega?" Setsuna asked.

"Well," Sumeragi said, "At the current time we are down to three Meisters. Tieria took ill a little while ago and he's on bed rest for a few days."

"Is he alright!?" Mileina asked almost fearfully, "He's been acting strange for a few days."

"He'll be fine if he rests for a few days," Sumeragi said, "He was just working himself a bit too hard that's all."

"Oh good," Mileina said with a sigh of relief.

"So," Sumeragi said, "I have a few rules that need to be put into place. First of all Setsuna, absolutely NO Trans-am! Ian just got the Double-0 back up and running and I do NOT need you to go overload it again. Newbie, I need you to at least _pretend _you know what you're doing for the next few days. So at least try to become a more active member of this crew. And Allelujah," Sumeragi said in a softer tone, "I have nothing to say to you so just go on as usual."

"Oi," Lyle complained, "That's not fair!"

"Sure it is," Sumeragi said, "Allelujah's been training with us the second longest, so he knows what to do in a situation like this. Alright, I'm going to need all of you to work a harder until Tieria's well again. You're dismissed."

"Well, this sucks," Lyle complained as Sumeragi left the room, "That purple haired kid sure caused a shit load of problems for the rest of us didn't she…I meant he."

"That's quite enough," Setsuna said as he walked from the room.

Allelujah walked up to Lyle punched him in the face then grabbed him by the collar, "Don't you _ever _disrespect Tieria Erde in front of me again," He said in a dangerous low tone, "Learn your place." He then released Lyle and walked from the room.

"You're awful," Mileina said, "Erde-san is your comrade and he's ill so you really shouldn't say those things about him!"

"Oh are you going to hit me too?" Lyle said.

"No," Mileina said, "I'm just saying! Erde-san would never say anything mean about anyone! He's so kind and he cares about everyone here!"

"And let me guess," Lyle said, "You're either his little girlfriend or you have a major crush on him but you're too shy to say anything."

"You bastard!" Mileina yelled as she kicked Lyle in the stomach then ran from the room, her face furiously red.

"Oh," Lyle gasped as he clutched his stomach, "Are any of you going to tell me what a horrible person I am?"

"I think you're going a bit too far," Ian said, "Although we do have cameras throughout the ship. We could always show that footage to Tieria and let him do what he sees fit. And I'm just gonna warn you, Tieria has an awful temper."

Feldt nodded as she followed Ian out of the room.

"And what about you?" Lyle asked Saji.

"I've got nothing to say," Saji said, "I don't know him and it's not my place."

"Damn bastard!" Lyle swore as he punched the wall after Saji left, "Just because some little boy on a high horse gets sick, I get blamed for everything! Goddammit I really wish that I didn't have to deal with that asshole!"

* * *

So what do you think? It's a decent start right? I figured that Tieria would be extremely stressed after meeting Regene and he doesn't seem to be the type who can handle stress well. As for the shippings, if I wasn't a Tieria/Mileina and an Allelujah/Marie shipper this would be a Tieria/Allelujah shipping but I planned it with Tieleina. And as for Lyle, I just really don't like him, he annoys me. So what do you think Tieria would do if he did get a hold of the footage of what Lyle said about him? Well, until next time minna-san!!

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


	2. Poisonous Thoughts

Konnichiwa minna-san! I'm back after a bit of an unexpected set back. My computer crashed with absolutely no warning what so ever, so as a result, I lost a lot of chapter material. But whatever, that's what I get for not backing stuff up in over a year. So anyway, I'm back and that's all that matters right? I don't have much to say about this chapter aside from the fact Lyle and Tieria might be out of character but it works for how I want the fic to progress.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam 00 or the characters but Veda is being nice and allowing me to borrow them for a while.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Two: Poisonous Thoughts

Sumeragi sighed as she watched Tieria toss and turn in his sleep. He may have been on a sleep-aid but he was not sleeping soundly. Tieria seemed to be having a hard time since Celestial Being had reformed. And Sumeragi wished that she could figure out why Tieria seemed so bothered about the reformation of the organization. She thought that he would be relieved that they managed to find everyone again.  
"Who are you...?" Tieria muttered in his sleep, "Why do you look like me...?"  
Sumeragi sighed. Tieria was dreaming again. Tieria would often wake from vivid dreams shaking and drenched in a cold sweat and every so often he would wake up sick to his stomach and vomiting. She hoped that this wasn't one of those times, Tieria needed to sleep he wasn't going to get any better if he didn't sleep.

She sighed again as she hoped that Tieria's restlessness would pass soon and that he wouldn't wake up screaming when the medication wore off.

_

* * *

Tieria was trapped in his unconscious. He medication that he had been put on to ensure that he fell asleep and stayed asleep was preventing him from waking up. He wanted to wake up but the sleep-aid had not run it's course yet. So he was stuck here forced to relive the traumatic events that had happened in his life. But it was the most recent one that kept replaying over and over again. And he kept finding himself looking into garnet eyes that he had seen countless times protected by thin wire-framed glasses and just beneath vivid purple bangs that were always parted to the right side in the mirror. However this time he was not looking at his reflection in a mirror, he was on an island off the coast of the Middle East where the only place he could find his reflection was in one of the puddles that had been left there by the rain that had fallen earlier that night. _

_ At first he thought that perhaps the image of the man or possibly the woman with the same narrow garnet eyes shielded behind thin, wire-framed glasses beneath messy hair that was the exact shade of vivid purple that his was, was just a hallucination caused by his over-worked and tired mind. Until the "image" spoke to him and he realized that the hallucination that was shielded from his vision by the sun was in fact a person. The person had a smooth alto-like voice that had the same smooth, calm, unwavering pitch of a voice produced by a computer program. And it was that that completely unsettled Tieria._

_ When the person spoke it sent a chill down his spine and caused him to break into a cold sweat. It made him want to both run away and run towards this person at the same time. And while his mind told him to get back in his Gundam and just get away from this desolate island, his heart told him to stay and find out more about this person. He was both intrigued and disgusted that there was another person out there who looked exactly like him and the confusion made him feel sick to his stomach. And for the first time in his life, Tieria Erde hesitated. _

_Then the person broke into his mind. And it took nearly all of Tieria's will power to keep __himself from expelling his stomach's contents as his head and mind ached with the person's calm alto voice. He grabbed his head as his imperfect vision wavered as his mind threatened to shut down. Yet somehow his arm knew to keep the muzzle of his hand gun pointed at the person. He wanted the person to leave, yet he wanted to the person to stay. He couldn't stand the alto voice of a doppelganger consuming every centimeter of his mind to the point where his own silent screams were being drowned out by the stranger's voice. _

_ The person walked towards him still expressing what they needed to express in Tieria's mind. Tieria recoiled, his arm still out stretched and the gun pointing at where the person used to be standing. He was frozen with a mix of awe and shear terror as the person whispered calmly into his ear, "That's right. We, who have adapted to the harsh environment of space, are responsible for leading humanity into a new frontier." _

_ His breath caught up in his chest. For whatever reason those words brought nothing but terror to his very being. He didn't want to believe it and amidst his terror and confusion rage began to build up in the pit of his stomach. And he lashed out. He just couldn't contain his emotions any longer it was going to consume him. He yelled at the person in front of him and yet the person always had a response that Tieria couldn't argue and he finally understood why his comrades had always been cautious to debate with him. _

_ Then the person left leaving Tieria confused, outraged, mortified, sickened and frightened. He didn't like the fact that he was telepathically connected to another individual. It made his skin craw and his stomach lurch horribly at the thought. And he stood there for what must have been hours, lost in thought. Until Lyle Dylandi and the Cherudim landed beside his own Gundam and the novice pilot had to hit him with some force just to get him out of his thoughts. The green-clad pilot then made some asinine comment causing Tieria to snap and take what was left of his anger, frustration, and pent up, rare aggression out on his fellow Meister. _

* * *

Sumeragi sighed. The sleep-aid was only supposed to last six hours and yet, it had been nearly twelve hours and Tieria was still in what seemed to be one of the deeper stages of unconsciousness. She was beginning to worry, could she have given him too much? Could she have accidentally switched the numbers for the dosing? Could she have caused him to overdose? She bit her lip as she tried to remember how much she had given him. She mentally kicked herself. The dosing instructions for each of the Meisters was taped on each medication vial in the medical room. Could she have read the wrong set of instructions and given Tieria more than what he was supposed to get? Tieria was the second smallest Meister and due to sensitivity to most forms of medication, he had to be give the dosage for someone weighing five to ten kilograms less then what he weighed.

But then, a soft moan and the sound of bed covers shifting snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked over at the bed and saw Tieria sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his still groggy garnet eyes.

"Tieria," She sighed in relief, "You're awake, I'm so glad."

"What's wrong Sumeragi Li Noriega?" Tieria asked his voice uncharacteristically deep and laced with fatigue.

"It's nothing," Sumeragi said. She knew that Tieria would probably scold her for worrying over something so petty.

"No it's not," Tieria said, "Something's bothering you. I can see it on your face, now tell me, what's wrong?"

Sumeragi sighed, "You were asleep for longer than you should have been," she said as she fiddled with her jacket a bit. She didn't know why talking with Tieria made her so nervous but for whatever reason it did. "I thought that I had accidentally given you more medication than your body could handle."

"You should be worrying about the status of the Gundams and our enemies," Tieria said, "Not me."

"Tieria," Sumeragi said, "I can't help it."

Tieria sighed, "I know you can't," he said, "What is the status on the Gundams?"

"The repairs to the Arios and Double-0 have been completed," Sumeragi said.

"Good," Tieria said, "We have all four Gundams. I may have met another adversary but I'm not sure yet."

Sumeragi nodded in response. Tieria had a knack for finding things out before anyone else and he felt as though there was a new enemy then she was going to trust him, he had never once been wrong. "Are you hungry?" She asked. It was nearly time for breakfast and she had a feeling that he hadn't eaten much in days.

"I guess," Tieria said as he stood, "What time is it?"

"About eight in the morning," Sumeragi said. Tieria nodded.

"I've been asleep for twelve hours then," He said, "Next time don't give me so much."

"I don't plan to," Sumeragi said as she made a mental note to half the dosage instructions for Tieria. But she also figured that he had been in dire need of sleep, granted he wasn't in a better mood but he looked better. She then followed Tieria out of his room.

* * *

"Ah," Lyle said as Tieria and Sumeragi walked into the dinning room, "I see our own sleeping beauty finally woke up. Are we going to be a little nicer today?"

"Shut up," Tieria growled. He didn't have the time or patients to deal with the novice right now, he was still rather groggy and unlike Lyle, he wasn't in any way shape or form a morning person.

"Ooh, someone needs a bit more sleep I think," Lyle said, "Did you stay up past your bedtime?"

"I said shut up!" Tieria yelled.

"I guess so," Lyle said. If he was going to say anything else it was silenced by a well aimed punch to the jaw that a seething Tieria had given to him. "What the hell was that for! I can understand why you hit me the other day but that was just uncalled for!"

"I'll be the one to decide what is uncalled for here." Tieria said in a dangerously low and soft voice.

"I was just joking," Lyle said as he rubbed his jaw, "You might look like a chick but you defiantly hit like a guy."

Lyle was once again silenced by a heavy blow to the face, "I am in no mood for jokes today," Tieria said.

"Alright you need to chill," Lyle said, "There's no reason to get violent."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Tieria yelled as he launched himself at Lyle.

"Tieria, Lyle cut it out!" Sumeragi yelled as Tieria and Lyle started to fight each other. Tieria was lighter and faster than Lyle was but Tieria also lacked the martial arts skills that Lyle possessed and Sumeragi knew that if she didn't want Tieria to get seriously injured she would need to intervene. She tried to get in between Tieria and Lyle but Tieria tried to avoid her but because he was still groggy and disoriented he ended up tripping and falling hard on the floor.

When Tieria didn't get up right away Lyle saw this as an opportunity to get back at the smaller Meister and he tackled the young man. Tieria coughed as his breath was knocked from him due to Lyle's weight pinning him against the floor.

"Lyle, get off of him now!" Sumeragi yelled as Lyle positioned himself in a mount position trapping Tieria on the floor. Lyle knew that Tieria's skill in the martial arts was only at about a blue belt-level and that he had almost no experience in judo or jujitsu. Lyle smirked as Tieria's facial expression displayed his helplessness and terror he must have been feeling. He had Tieria right where he wanted him. He had Tieria, who seemed to have a very high status in the organization, in a situation that his high social status couldn't get him out of. Until he felt a stronger hand pull him off of the boy.

"Sumeragi-san told you get off of him!" Allelujah yelled.

"Figures," Lyle said, "The princess has a knight in shining armor to rescue her."

Tieria heard this comment and immediately jumped to his feet. He lunged towards Lyle but instead of catching the taller man around the neck, he caught an upper-cut to the diaphragm.

Lyle watched as Tieria's garnet eyes widened then emptied as they closed as Tieria lost consciousness. "Hey thanks," he said as the super soldier gently lifted Tieria's unconscious form off the floor, "I don't know what got into him. He was going to kill me."

"I did that to protect Tieria, not you" Allelujah said, "You need to learn you place."

Lyle looked mortified as Allelujah left the room with Tieria and he looked towards Sumeragi.

"I want you to return to your room," She said sternly, "I'll deal with you when I figure out a punishment severe enough to deal with what you just pulled."

"Tieria started it," Lyle said.

"Are you twelve?" Sumeragi asked, "You instigated him and therefore deserved those punches. Get out of here!" Lyle sighed and walked from the room. He had a feeling that if he tried to argue with Sumeragi his punishment would be worse so he did what he was told.

Sumeragi sighed. It was only eight thirty in the morning and she already had the burning desire to drink until she forgot who she was.

* * *

Allelujah sighed as Tieria started stirring. He had made sure that he hit Tieria in a spot where he wouldn't run the risk of severely hurting the smaller Meister.

"Tieria?" Allelujah asked as Tieria sat up with some difficulty due to the pain in his stomach.

"Why the hell did you stop me!" Tieria yelled.

"Tieria we can't be fighting each other," Allelujah pleaded. He had heard that Tieria had mellowed out during the past five years but he still got a bit nervous when he had to talk to the purple-haired Meister. "We need to be able to work together as well as we did four years ago."

"I don't think that will ever happen," Tieria said listlessly, "There's a certain someone who doesn't seem willing to become part of our team. Someone that I wonder about."

"Who?" Allelujah asked, "Lockon?"

"NO!" Tieria yelled, "That man isn't Lockon! He will never become Lockon! He will never live up to the standards that Lockon set! He is not Lockon Stratos!"

"Is that what this is all about?" Allelujah said, "Tieria, you have to get past that, the rest of us have. You have to leave the past behind you Tieria. It's true that Lyle will never live up to Lockon's standards but you can't hate him because of that."

"There are other reasons why I hate him," Tieria said, "He's rude, he's arrogant. He acts like he owns the place. He tends to look down on others. And there's just something about him that unsettles me."

"Isn't that what you were like four years ago?" Allelujah asked.

Tieria's eyes widened as he found himself unable to speak. Allelujah had delivered a direct blow with that comment. Everything he had said to describe Lyle had described what he was like four years ago. He sighed, "I still don't like him."

"It amazes me how, even though they're almost exactly alike, you loved one while you hate the other." Allelujah said. He looked over at Tieria and almost immediately regretted what he had said. Tieria's visage displayed a softness that Allelujah had never seen before and it almost looked as thought the normally emotionless Meister was about to cry. And this time Allelujah was at a loss for words. "Tieria...I'm...I'm really..."

"What does it matter?" Tieria said his voice laced with the tears he was trying to keep to himself, "He's been dead four years. I couldn't save him..."

"Tieria..."

"In a twisted way I wish the organization had never reformed," Tieria said softly, "Then I wouldn't have to be reminded of that...incident nearly every day."

"Tieria," Allelujah said, "Is this what's been bothering you for the past few weeks?" Tieria nodded as he wiped his eyes, "You should have talked to us about it, we could have helped you."

"What's done is done," Tieria whispered, "It wouldn't have changed anything. Could you leave now please? I want to be alone for a while."

Allelujah nodded. Tieria was the type of person who needed his space. He was a very introverted person who definitely preferred his own company than the company of others. And Allelujah respected that, nearly everyone on the ship did.

But then again Allelujah also knew that Tieria was the type of person who got lonely easily even if he didn't want to admit it. He had seen Tieria at his lowest point four years ago, and it worried him that such a level headed person such as Tieria could almost completely lose himself. He didn't want to see that happen again but at the same time he didn't want to oppress him because that could end just as badly.

"Let me know if you need anyone to talk to later on," Allelujah said, "You may not realize it, but we're all here for you Tieria, please don't forget that." Allelujah hope that Tieria was the kind of person who only needed that little bit of reassurance and he hoped that his words had helped.

Tieria nodded as he lay against the bed again. His thoughts were confusing him again. He wanted to talk to someone about what he was feeling yet at the same time, he didn't. He wanted to cry on someone's shoulders but he needed to maintain his strong countenance and he didn't want to be seen as weak. He was a complete loss of what to do so he buried his face in his pillow and cried himself to sleep.

* * *

Well there it is. Like I said they're all a little OOC but hey it happens to everyone sometimes. And about the whole judo, jujitsu mount thing, mount is nearly impossible to get out of if you have no martial arts experience...trust me I've been put in that situation before and it's not fun. And the whole section in italics was basically me watching that part of the episode while listening to a metal band called Savatage while my already hyperactive imagination was running on some kind of crazy caffeinated coffee drink. Well I've talked long enough so until next time minna-san!

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


	3. Denial

Konnichiwa minna-san! I'm back after a bit of a break. I had an onslaught of writer's block for a while. And I'm hoping that it has cleared up. This chapter might be a little angsty but I've had a difficult week. Well aside from that I've really got nothing more to say so skip the disclaimer and just start reading.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam 00 or the characters but Veda is being nice and allowing me to borrow them for a while.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter three: Denial

Allelujah sighed as he knocked on the door to Sumeragi's quarters. He felt absolutely awful about the situation that Tieria was in. He had managed to get Tieria to confide his feelings to him and he was going behind the boy's back to inform Sumeragi about what he had been told. He knew that if Tieria found out he went to Sumeragi with that information, the purple-haired Meister would never trust him again. But it was Sumeragi's orders and Sumeragi's orders needed to be followed.

"Allelujah what is it?" Sumeragi asked as she held a glass of hard liquor in her hands. The incident between Lyle and Tieria had driven her to drink very early that morning.

"I found out what's been bothering Tieria," He said.

Sumeragi quickly abandoned her drink, "What did you find out?" she asked seriously. The quicker she found out what was bothering the quiet Meister the sooner she could help him.

"He's still being haunted by what happened four years ago," Allelujah said, "He can't seem to separate Neil and Lyle either. I feel really awful for him, he's in so much pain...I've never seen Tieria almost cry before."

Sumeragi's expression softened, "So he's really bothered by everything that's happened in the past few weeks," She said softly, "I wish I had known, I could have helped him."

"I'm under the impression that Tieria didn't want you to know," Allelujah said, "When I asked him why he didn't tell anyone he muttered something along the lines of, "what's done is done, it wouldn't have changed anything." I'm really worried about him."

Sumeragi sighed, "Why must he be so stubborn?" she said, "Does he understand that we can help him?"

Allelujah sighed as Sumeragi stood up, "Tieria doesn't like to confide with others," He said, "You're going to go talk to him aren't you?"

"Of course I am," Sumeragi said, "I won't let him keep this to himself."

"Please," Allelujah said, "Don't tell him I told you about it. I don't want him to stop trusting me."

Sumeragi turned toward Allelujah and nodded, "Thank you for coming to me about this," she said, "With the way Tieria is, you very well might have just saved his life."

Allelujah gasped. "Wait," he called, "What do you mean?"

"After he recovered from the events of Fallen Angles," Sumeragi said softly, "Tieria wanted to take his life."

Allelujah was stunned by what Sumeragi had just told him. He would have never expected Tieria to be the type of person who would do that. But then again Tieria kept to himself nearly all the time, if something was bothering him, no one would ever know.

* * *

Sumeragi sighed as she entered Tieria's room and found that he was sleep. She could tell that he had been crying. His face was slightly flushed and his eyes, though they were closed, were slightly puffy. She gently nudged him on the shoulder, "Tieria," She called, "Tieria are you alright?"

The purple-haired boy in front of her stirred and moaned as he woke up. "Sumeragi," He muttered as he rubbed his eyes, "What do you want?"

"I want to know what's bothering you," She said as the young man sat up.

"Nothing," Tieria said, "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Sumeragi said as she took notice of his bloodshot eyes, "I can tell that you've been crying. Now tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Tieria said as he raised his voice, "I just want to be left alone. Now please leave."

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong," Sumeragi said as she folded her arms.

"I'm fine alright?" Tieria said, "Now leave."

"Tieria," Sumeragi said, "I know that something is bothering you. Now tell me what it is so I can help you."

"I don't need help," Tieria said, "I need to be alone."

"No, you need help," Sumeragi said, "Now tell me what's wrong."

"There is _nothing _wrong with me!" Tieria yelled, "Now get the hell out of my room!"

"Tieria Erde!" Sumeragi yelled back, "I don't care if I have to tie you down then inject you with truth serum and I _will_ find out what caused you to try to fight Lyle." At these words Tieria froze and paled, "Tieria, please, I just want to help."

"I don't need help," Tieria muttered as he tried to keep the tears to himself, "I just want to be left alone."

Sumeragi sighed and put her arm around Tieria, "You're in pain," She said, "I can see it on your face. You've been acting odd since the organization reformed. Feldt and Mileina are extremely worried about you, they don't want to see anything happen to you. I know you don't want to tell me what's got you acting so distant but please, do it for Mileina and Feldt. They've seen you at your lowest point and they don't want to have to see that again."

Tieria sighed and bit his already bleeding lip, "I don't want to see anyone else get hurt," Tieria said softly, "I don't think I would be able to live through that again, it was hard enough the first time."

Sumeragi sighed, "I know what it's like," She said.

"It seems as though comrades are always getting hurt at my hands," Tieria said, "I nearly killed Hixar Fermi and because of me Lockon…no Neil was hurt and then he was killed because of that injury."

Sumeragi looked down as she played with her hands a bit, "That pales in comparison to what I've done…" She said softly, "When I worked for the AEU I made an error that caused allies to fight each other…in that battle, my lover Emilio… was critically injured and he didn't survive…Several of my comrades lost their lives that day because of a mistake I made." She paused, "Tieria, we all have things from our past that haunt us and you can do two things about it. You can either leave those events in the past, or you can let the events consume you."

Tieria nodded, "I try but every time I look at Lyle, I see Neil," He said softly.

"We all see it Tieria," Sumeragi said, "They're identical twins. But please Tieria don't hate Lyle because he's not Neil. Is there anything else that's bothering you?"

"I think…I have a twin," Tieria said, "When Allelujah went missing I met a person on an island who looked exactly like me. He had the same hair and eye color as me, he was the same height as me and he said that he had the same DNA base pattern as me. It really disturbed me…he could talk to me without using his mouth at all and it sickened me. To know that there's a person…no several people out there who are like me and that there's a person who is telepathically connected to me at all times…I…I don't like it…"

Sumeragi sighed. She had no idea how to help Tieria with that, "Don't worry," She said, "It will be alright. Tieria, I want you to remember that you're not alone. Don't be afraid to talk to me if something's bothering you. I don't want to see you get the way you did four years ago."

Tieria smiled weakly and nodded, "Thanks," He muttered as Sumeragi walked from the room. He sighed as he replaced his jacket and glasses and left his room. He needed to clear his mind and the best way he knew how to do that was with a walk around the Ptolemaios.

* * *

He found himself standing at the observation deck. He didn't know why he always ended up here but for some reason he always found himself here. Four years ago when he was troubled like this he often found himself at the small terminal that was connected to Veda. He had been the only person who had access to that part of the Ptolemaios. However the second Ptolemaios had not been equipped with a terminal to Veda. It wouldn't have been of any use to him anyway, he had lost his access rights. So recently he found himself retreating to the observation deck.

He gazed out of the thick nearly impenetrable glass and sighed. He once again found himself thinking about Regene Regetta, whoever the person was. And he came to the conclusion that the more he thought of the person that looked exactly like him the more uncomfortable with the situation he had somehow gotten himself into. Every last thing the person said made his skin crawl and his stomach feel sick but there was one think the person had said to him that stuck out in his mind the most.

"_You are denying your reason for being."_

Every time he heard these words, his head swam and his knees grew weak. He had just figured out what he was going to do with his life and now this came up. And he knew that there was no one who could relate with him. All of his comrades were human and he…he wasn't human.

"_Tieria Erde, let us guide humanity together, as innovators."_

Tieria sighed. His meeting with Regene had changed things for him. He now felt as though he didn't belong in Celestial Being anymore.

"If that's the case," He said to no one in particular, "Then the path I should choose is…"

"_Hey, don't go fitting yourself into a mold like that." _A familiar voice that often haunted his dreams said. Tieria turned to the door and what he saw shocked him, _"Old man Aeolia trusted us with the Gundams so you go do what your heart feels is right. And then go work towards that decision with everything you've got."_

Tieria's eyes widened as he saw, or thought he saw the apparition of the man who had changed him for the better, "Lockon…"

* * *

Allelujah sighed as he wandered around the Ptolemaios trying to find Tieria. He was feeling guilty about going to Sumeragi with Tieria's secret and he couldn't keep it from the smaller Meister any longer. The only problem was, Allelujah couldn't find Tieria anywhere. He found himself on the last place he knew to look, the observation deck. He opened the door and found Tieria staring almost vacantly at the door.

"Tieria, are you alright?" Allelujah asked.

Almost instantly Tieria snapped from his gaze, "I'm alright," He said.

"Are you sure?" Allelujah asked, "You look really upset about something."

"It's not something you would understand," Tieria said.

"I could try," Allelujah said. He wanted to be cautious around Tieria but at the same time he wanted to help him, "What's wrong?"

"I…I thought I just saw Lockon…" Tieria said, "I don't know if it was just an illusion or not but I could have sworn he was just here, talking to me…"

Allelujah sighed. In the time he had known Tieria, he had never once acted like this and it worried Allelujah, "What happened to you during these last four years?" He asked hoping that Tieria wouldn't take it the wrong way, "The Tieria I once knew would have never acted this way. He would have scolded me for meddling in his business."

Tieria sighed, "I know he would have," He said vacantly, "But the Tieria you once knew is gone now and…he's probably not coming back…" Tieria sank to his knees, "Why does it have to be so damn hard?"

"Tieria…" Allelujah muttered.

"I thought I knew what I would do with the rest of my life, but now…I'm not so sure," Tieria said his voice shaking as if he was about to cry.

"Tieria, what are you on about?" Allelujah asked.

"Allelujah," Tieria said, "I'm not…"

"So that's where you've been hiding," Lyle said as he entered the observation deck, "Allelujah, Sumeragi is looking for you."

"Tell her I'll be right there," Allelujah said.

"She kinda wants you now," Lyle said.

Allelujah sighed, "Alright," He said. He turned to Tieria, "Tieria, I'm sorry, what were you trying to tell me?"

"Never mind," He said softly. He was both aggravated and relieved that Lyle had interrupted them.

"Lyle," Allelujah said, "Go head up to the bridge and tell Sumeragi that I'll be right there. I just need to tell Tieria something really quick."

"Alright," He said as he left the room.

"Tieria," Allelujah said, "I have to apologize. After we spoke earlier, I went to Sumeragi-san about it. She kinda gave us orders to find out what was bothering you."

"It's alright," Tieria said softly.

"Now what was it that you wanted to tell me before Lyle barged in here?" Allelujah asked.

Tieria sighed, "I found out…that I'm not human," Tieria said. He figured if anyone could understand what he was going through it was Allelujah. "And that I'm…denying my reason for living…"

* * *

Lyle gasped as he listened in on his comrades. He had had a feeling that there was something not right about Tieria but he was not expecting what he had just heard. He wasn't sure what Tieria had meant by 'not human' and there was no way he could ask the purple-haired boy because that would prove that he had been listening in on something he shouldn't have. He smiled as he ran off, he now had something to hold over Tieria's head should the rather vigilant Meister ever found out that he was a spy.

* * *

So poor Tieria's still having trouble with what he feeling and Sumeragi was going to beat it out of him one way or another. But it seems that Tieria finally broke but with a little spy listening through the door…Is Lyle going to use that information on Tieria or will it backfire on him (Lyle fans I apologize but I just don't like him). Just a few things to ponder as you wait for the next chapter. Until next time minna-san!

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


	4. Meeting the Enemy

Konnichiwa minna-san! I'm back after another break…(I have several other active fics so I lose track of things sometimes) But whatever. This chapter is less angsty than the last one was but the angst is gonna stick around (I'm really not an angsty person at all but I like writing it…) Well I've got nothing more to say so enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam 00 or the characters but Veda is being nice and allowing me to borrow them for a while.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Four: Meeting the Enemy

Allelujah looked at Tieria in shock. "Tieria," He said, "I don't quite understand…what do you mean, you're not human?"

"I don't know what I mean!" Tieria exclaimed, "The man I met that day you went missing told me that I was something called an innovator. I always knew that I was different but…I wasn't expecting this."

"What's an innovator?" Allelujah asked.

"I don't know," Tieria said, "All I know is that I won't ever age and I use quantum brainwaves."

"So," Allelujah said trying to grasp at what Tieria had just told him, "You're almost like me?"

"I don't know," Tieria said, "I guess. But I don't think I was ever a child like you were. I think I was "born" the way I am now."

Allelujah sighed, "You shouldn't worry about it too much," he said, "You'll make yourself sick again."

Tieria sighed, "I'll try," he said, "But it's frustrating, to be told by a complete stranger who looks exactly like you tell you that you're not human."

Allelujah sighed again. There really was he could say to Tieria and Allelujah really felt bad for him.

"_Tieria, Allelujah, will you two please report to the briefing room immediately!"_

"We should get going," Allelujah said. Tieria nodded then followed the taller Meister to the briefing room.

* * *

"It's about time you two got here," Sumeragi said as she folded her arms across her chest, "Wang Liu Mei has some important information that she is willing to share with us."

"_I've received word from a reliable source that A-Laws members who have yet to appear in public will be attending a party being thrown for the kingpins of the industries." _She said, _"I will send an agent and report back to you with my findings."_

"Wait!" Tieria shouted, "I will be participating in that operation! I want to see the true enemy with my own two eyes!"

"Tieria!" Allelujah exclaimed, "You shouldn't be so rash!"

"It's possible that the enemy already knows our identities," Lasse said.

"I'll provide back-up," Setsuna said, "Tieria shouldn't go alone."

Sumeragi sighed, "I guess I have no choice," She said, "However…" She said darkly, "The two of you will have to follow my exact instructions."

"Ryoukai," Setsuna said.

"I will do whatever is necessary," Tieria said.

"_I guess it's been settled then,"_ Wang Liu Mei said, _"I hope to see the two of you there."_

"Alright you two," Sumeragi said as the call ended, "Come with me."

* * *

Tieria tried to keep a straight face when Sumeragi and Mileina showed him what he would be wearing. He almost had half a mind to ask if such an extensive outfit would be necessary for a recon mission.

"Everyone knows that all the Meisters are men," Mileina said, "So we figured we'd have one of you go undercover as a woman."

"So _I'm _the one going as a woman," Tieria said somberly.

"Sorry Tieria," Sumeragi said, "You're the best choice for this situation. You're the only Meister that would look good dressed as a woman."

"I understand," Tieria said. He almost wanted to curse his appearance. He had a very feminine-like face and his shoulder length hair did him no favors either.

"Mileina," Sumeragi said, "I'm going to need you to help him with that. Do you mind Tieria?"

"No," Tieria said, "I don't mind. However, I don't think that dress will fit me in the chest area."

"We've got that covered," Sumeragi said as she handed a large box to Mileina, "I'll let you do your work."

"Alrighty!" Mileina said as Sumeragi walked out of the room, "Here," She said as she handed Tieria the box, "I'll step out while you put that on."

Tieria opened the box, "What _is _this?" he asked.

"Well," Mileina said, "We need people to believe that you're a woman. So that will help you look more like a woman."

Tieria sighed. He was having second thoughts about doing this but he wanted to know who the true enemy was.

"I'll leave the room while you get changed," Mileina said, "Then I'll come back to help you with your hair and make-up."

Tieria sighed as he changed into the dress. The outfit he would have to wear was uncomfortable to say the least. The dress dug into the back of his neck and the body suit was awkward.

"Erde-san," Mileina called, "Are you done?"

"Yeah," Tieria said, "You can come in."

"Oh wow it fits you perfectly," Mileina said, "And that color looks wonderful on you too. She walked over to the vanity, "Come over here," She said, "We need to fix your hair and make-up."

"Uh Mileina," Tieria said as he sat down in front of the girl, "If possible, could you do light make-up…this is embarrassing enough."

"I understand," The fourteen year old said, "I wasn't going to put a lot of make-up on you anyway. You have such nice skin."

"Thank you," Tieria said as Mileina began her work.

"Ugh, you're so lucky Erde-san," Mileina said, "I would die for skin like yours. I hardly have to do anything here." She then took a fairly large box off her bed, "Now for the final touch." She took a long purple wig out of the box and set it down on the bed. "You have such nice hair too," She said as she combed Tieria's hair back into a low ponytail. She then put the rest of Tieria's vivid purple hair in what looked like a hairnet.

She walked over to get the wig. She sighed a bit. She was extremely happy that Sumeragi had let her help get Tieria ready for the mission. She had a major crush on the aloof Meister and she always got nervous talking around him except when they were discussing the status of the Gundams or the missions.

"Mileina," Tieria said, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," She said, "I just don't want to tangle the wig that's all."

"If you say so," Tieria said.

Mileina picked up the wig and walked over to Tieria. She then gently pulled the wig over his forehead and the back of his head. She admired her handiwork in the mirror, "Turn towards me please," She said as she grabbed the brush off the vanity, "I just have to adjust a few things and we'll be done."

"Alright," Tieria said as Mileina started to adjust the wig a bit and combed it flat.

"There we are," Mileina said, "All set. Well almost…" She took a pair of dark maroon heels out of yet another box, "The dress is a tad bit long for you but these will get rid of that problem."

"Thank you," Tieria said as he slipped the heels on. He stood and went to take a step but he nearly fell.

"Erde-san," Mileina said as she steadied Tieria, "Do you want me to help you while you get used to those shoes?"

"Yes please," Tieria responded as he held on to Mileina's arm for support, "Thank you Mileina."

Mileina blushed with delight. The person she liked the most was clinging on to her for balance and she couldn't be any happier, "You're welcome, Erde-san," She said, "I hope you fare well today."

"I hope so too, Mileina," Tieria said, "But I'm a bit apprehensive."

"Why is that Erde-san?"

"I'll be infiltrating an enemy base," He said, "I'll be forced to play by the enemy's rules and…there's a good chance I'll end up getting myself into trouble."

"That's why Seiei-san is going as your back-up," Mileina said.

"Still," Tieria said, "Setsuna will be waiting outside the building. There's a possibility that if I get into trouble he won't get to me in time to help me."

"Don't say things like that Erde-san!" Mileina exclaimed, "Nothing is going to happen to you on the mission! You'll find what you're looking for and you'll get back here safe and sound! You'll be alright!"

"What's wrong, Mileina?" Tieria asked as he noticed the girl's distress.

"I…I would be devastated if something were to happen to you…" Mileina mumbled. This wasn't quite how she wanted to go about telling the pilot this but she knew that Tieria was going to force it out of her one way or another, "I…I love you Erde-san…"

Tieria recoiled in shock. He had noticed that the girl always acted odd around him but he wasn't quite expecting what the girl had told him. He wasn't human, he didn't fully understand the concepts of love and hate. He never understood why humans clung to such abstract concepts, however he didn't want to crush the young girl's feeling because he couldn't grasp what love was. "Mileina…"

"I'm sorry Erde-san," Mileina muttered, "What I said was foolish and unacceptable. Please disregard my previous statement."

"Call me Tieria," he said, "What you said was not foolish or unacceptable, Mileina. I finally know why you always acted odd around me."

"Erde-san…"

"Tieria, Mileina, Tieria," He said, "If you're going to tell a person that you love them, you should use their first name."

"T-Tieria-san…" Mileina gasped, "What do you mean?"

"I'm not human and don't fully understand what love is," He said softly, "But I'll try my. Thank you for caring about me Mileina."

"Tieria-san…" Mileina gasped.

"_Tieria, Mileina!" _Sumeragi called, _"What in the world is taking you two so long?"_

"Su-sumimasen," Mileina stuttered still in shock at Tieria's uncharacteristically kind words, "We'll be right there."

"I'll be alright from here Mileina," Tieria said as he pulled away from Mileina but not before pulling the teenager into a hug, "Thank you. I'll be sure to return safely."

"You're welcome," The girl responded, "And thank you Tieria-san…for understanding. Good luck out there!"

* * *

Lyle nearly laughed out loud when he was Tieria. In a matter of two hours Sumeragi and Mileina had managed transform the young man into a very believable female.

"Well hello there, little lady," He said, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is…"

"Shut up," Tieria snapped as he punched Lyle in the face, "I am in no mood for jokes."

"What the hell was that for?" Lyle exclaimed, "You didn't need to punch me in the face, Tieria."

Tieria held his tongue. He didn't need to lash out at the newest Meister again.

"Here," Sumeragi said as she handed Tieria a revolver, a mouthpiece and a bracelet, "The mouthpiece will alter your voice and the bracelet it a tracking device. Good luck and please, be careful out there you two."

"Understood," Tieria responded as he walked towards his Gundam.

"Setsuna," Sumeragi said, "Keep him safe."

"Ryoukai," Setsuna responded.

Mileina watched as the Double-0 and the Seravee headed off towards their destination. She shut her eyes and hoped that Tieria made it back safely.

* * *

Tieria was extremely disgusted by what he witnessed. Nearly every male in the hall tried to hit on him in some way. He cursed his looks sometimes. His appearance would attract both men and women alike and he hated it.

"Excuse me miss, may have this dance?" Yet another man asked him.

"I'm sorry," Tieria said, "I'm not much of a dancer."

"It's alright miss," The man said as he placed his arm around Tieria's shoulders, "I'll be your guide. You'll be dancing like a pro when I'm done with you."

"I really must decline your offer," Tieria said as he tried to come up with an excuse to get the other man to leave him alone. The man smelled strongly of liquor, "I have problems with my legs, I really can't dance."

"Oh," The man said, "I'm terribly sorry miss. Let me buy you a drink then."

"I don't drink," Tieria said.

"So what are you interested miss?" The man asked as two other drunk love-struck men made their way over to Tieria.

Tieria sighed and hoped that something would get him out of having to "entertain" three drunk power-hungry men, "I enjoy participating in skeet and game shooting," Tieria said.

"Ah so you're a hunter," One of the men said, "Or shall I say a huntess. I also participate in game hunting. Please allow me to escort you some time."

"Sure," Tieria said. He was growing bored with this and he was about to walk away when there was the clicking of hard-soled shoes approaching him.

"Excuse me miss," A green haired teenager asked as Tieria turned and the men backed away, "It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Ribbons Alamark. May I have this dance?"

Tieria immediately knew that there was something different about the young man in front of him. He had almost a gut feeling that he had found what he was looking for /This man must be the one behind everything…/ Tieria thought as he took the young man's hand.

"Tieria Erde," The man said, "I never thought that you would show up looking like this."

"It's common knowledge that all the Meisters are male," Tieria said. He had deactivated the mouth piece for this encounter. If the green haired young man in front him was indeed the one behind everything then he already knew that he was male. "I am simply following the instructions of my strategic forecaster." He paused, "Are you really the one behind the A-Laws? Have you really seized control of Veda?"

"Is it hard to believe?" Ribbons asked, "I can return them to you if you want…" He sneered, "Your access rights…"

Tieria gasped and lost his footing. He tried to regain his balance however his other foot slipped causing him to fall hard. He gasped in pain as he felt his right arm dislocate and at least one rib break due to the force of the fall.

The green haired man knelt down next to Tieria, "Are you alright?" he asked with a false concern to his voice, "Come on," he carefully pulled Tieria to his feet, "Let's get you fixed up a bit."

Tieria followed the green haired man to a large dimly lit room.

"Sit down," Ribbons said.

"Have you really seized control of Veda?" Tieria asked as he clutched his right arm. The other man didn't seem to be doing anything to help him at all.

"You should know that," He said.

"That time…" Tieria muttered, "When the TRIAL system was forcefully disengaged and you…you were the one who gave the false GN-Drives to the federation? Why did you do that?"

"Because the destruction of Celestial Being was a part of the plan," Ribbons said as he poured a glass of wine for himself.

"What…?" Tieria muttered. The pain was terrible but he was still on a mission and he needed to focus on the task at hand, "That can't be true…As someone trusted with a Gundam, I think you're wrong!" He exclaimed, "That's right! I will follow the path that I think is right!"

Ribbons laughed, "You've been influenced by humans far more than I had expected," He said as he got right in Tieria's face, knowing that the purple-haired man in front of him would be unable to fight back, "You allowed that man, that Lockon Stratos to get too far into your heart. You're an innovator Tieria Erde, you cannot become human. You were created for the purpose of carrying out the plan and now you're becoming an obstacle."

"What…what do you mean…?"

"Let me make something clear to you Tieria Erde," The man said softly, "Should you stay with Celestial Being, you will die. Everyone in Celestial Being will die. I intend to bring about the belated destruction of Celestial Being."

Tieria reached for his gun, "You bastard!" He yelled as he aimed at the green haired man's face. Then before he could pull the trigger a sharp pain shot through his left wrist and the back of his neck. He dropped his gun and turned towards the door.

A person with short messy green hair was standing there holding a gun, "Hilling Care," She said, "I'm also an innovator. You should know better than that Tieria Erde, pointing a gun at our leader how tactless… Shall I kill him Ribbons?"

Tieria grimaced as he stood and ran towards the window. The pain in his side was nearly overwhelming but he needed to get out of there. He put his left arm in front of his face and ran straight through the window, breaking it in the process. He then ran off towards his Gundam ignore the pain.

* * *

Setsuna was rather concerned when Tieria ran into the clearing where they had left their Gundams then collapsed to his knees visibly shaking in pain.

"Tieria!" Setsuna called as he ran towards the other Meister and knelt down, "What's wrong?"

"I fell…" Tieria gasped through the pain, "I think I broke a rib and my arm is dislocated…"

"We should hurry and get back before we're caught," Setsuna said, "I'm sorry, I blew our cover."

"It's alright," Tieria gasped, "I'm going to need your help…I can't move my arm at all."

"Okay," Setsuna said as he helped Tieria change into his flight suit, "Take it easy."

* * *

"Was that really necessary Hilling?" Ribbons asked.

"He was going to shoot you," Hilling said, "I couldn't just stand there and let him kill you Ribbons!"

"Did you at least do what I asked you to do?" Ribbons asked.

"Of course," Hilling said, "I got him in the back of neck with that."

"Good," Ribbons said. He then turned to a red haired man standing in another door way, "I have a job for you."

"Oh good," The man said, "I was getting bored."

"I've already sent the instructions to the Arche Gundam," Ribbons said, "Take care not to kill Tieria Erde, the one in the larger mobile suit. He shouldn't be able to put up much of a fight."

"Alright boss," The man said as he left the room.

"Why can't I go after them Ribbons," Hilling whined, "I wanna get Tieria Erde back for what he did to you."

"I need you to stay here for something," Ribbons said, "Don't worry, we'll get our revenge."

* * *

Uh-oh Ribbons is planning something that involves Tieria…this can't be good. I tried to keep the dialogue between Tieria and Ribbons as close to the anime as possible but I changed things so it would work with the plot. And as for Mileina's confession, that will play a rather important role in the rest of the story so just hang tight for the explanations. So what's gonna happen next? It shouldn't take me long to get the next chapter out, I've already got it written. So until next time minna-san! Ja ne!

It's the Ninth of December so, Happy "Birthday" Tieria!

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


	5. Painful Aftermath

Konnichiwa minna-san! It didn't take me all that long to update this time. I already had this chapter written so all I had to do was type it up. There's nothing I have to say about this chapter so skip the disclaimer and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam 00 or the characters but Veda is being nice and allowing me to borrow them for a while.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Five: Painful Aftermath

Tieria grimaced as he tried his best to pilot the Seravee one handed and in severe pain. He had put his Gundam on a semi-auto pilot while he did his best to control his Gundam with his left arm while his right hung useless at his throbbing right side.

"_Tieria," _Setsuna called, _"How are you faring?"_

"Not well," Tieria responded. He was struggling, "Setsuna…I'm in pain…"

"_Try to take it easy," _Was all Setsuna had to offer. He really felt bad for Tieria. He had a feeling that the other Meister was in quite a bit of pain and there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it either. Tieria couldn't take any form of pain reliever, it would only make him violently ill, "_If you need to take a break let me know and we'll land somewhere."_

"Setsuna, I just want to get back to the Ptolemaios as soon as possible," Tieria said. He sighed and tried to move his right arm but once again the dislocated limb refused to respond to his command. Then the Seravee's e-sensor went off as it detected an unknown mobile suit approaching their position and he groaned. He couldn't afford to be engaged in battle now, he was in no condition to fight.

"_Tieria, fall back!" _Setsuna ordered as the Arche Gundam started firing at the Double-0.

"That's…" Tieria gasped as he caught a glance at the red Gundam-like mobile suit, "An improved version of the Throne…That's Lockon's…"

"_Yo, Mister Gundam pilot," _Ali-Al Saashez called through the line as Tieria tried to fall back, _"I have a special assignment involving you."_

"What?" Tieria gasped as the red Gundam cut him off from his left side. /He knows…/ Tieria thought, /He knows I can't pilot on the right side…/

"_You heard me," _Saashez said, _"My boss wants you to return to where you belong."_

Tieria gasped, "What!"

"_I'm you opponent!" _Setsuna called as he tried to get Ali-Al Saashez's attention.

"_Shut up you little Krugis punk," _Saashez said as he fired the fangs at the Double-00, _"The only person I'm interested in now is your little injured friend over here."_

Tieria gasped. He knew he was in trouble. He couldn't use any of the weapons on the right side of his Gundam and the enemy seemed to know that he was injured. "Setsuna!" He cried as he brought up a GN-Field.

"_Hold on Tieria," _Setsuna called as he struggled to destroy the fangs, _"Can you fight at all?"_

"Setsuna my right side is completely useless. My shoulder is dislocated I can't move my arm at all…" Tieria said, "I can barely pilot, let alone fight."

"_Fall back!" _Setsuna ordered,

"I'll try," Tieria said as he tried to break away from the Arche Gundam however the red mobile suit kept cutting him off from the left. /Dammit!/ Tieria thought as he reached over and pulled the right hand trigger with his left hand catching the enemy off guard. He didn't damage the other mobile suit at all but he did surprise the pilot enough to break away from him, "Setsuna, cover me!"

"_Ryoukai!" _Setsuna said as he managed to get between Tieria and the Arche Gundam, _"I'm your opponent!"_

"_Should be any minute now…" _Ali-Al Saashez said.

"_What?" _Setsuna gasped. They didn't need enemy reinforcements the two of them could barely handle the one enemy mobile suit.

Tieria was about to activate Trans-Am to get out of the battle field when his head began to spin. He tried to shrug off the dizziness but it held strong, "What…what is this…?" He muttered as an extreme weakness set in.

"_Tieria!" _Setsuna cried as the Seravee began losing altitude, _"What's wrong?"_

"I…I don't know…" Tieria mumbled as his body relaxed, "Setsuna…I…I can't move…"

The Seravee then crashed into the ocean below and the last thing Tieria heard before losing consciousness was someone screaming his name.

* * *

Setsuna gasped as the Seravee started losing altitude. "Tieria!" He yelled, "What's wrong?"

"_I…I don't know…" _Tieria's weak reply came. Setsuna started to worry, there was obviously something very wrong with Tieria, _"Setsuna…I…I can't move…"_

He then watched as Tieria's Gundam crashed into the sea, "Tieria!" He yelled. When Tieria failed to respond back, Setsuna started to worry, the only time when Tieria wouldn't answer back was when he couldn't answer back. He moved to take a defensive position in front of the Seravee but the Arche Gundam got there first.

"_That took longer than he said it would," _Saashez said.

"Stay away from him!" Setsuna yelled as he fired two shots at the Arche but the red mobile suit moved and the Seravee took the hits instead.

"_Attacking your own comrade?" _Saashez said, _"What kind of a friend are you? But then again…you did take the lives of your own parents so I shouldn't be surprised."_

"You Bastard!" Setsuna growled as he approached the Arche with his sword drawn.

"_Are you sure you want to do that?" _Saashez said, _"If you miss me you might just kill your friend here…and what would you other comrades think if you took the life of a friend? I'm guessing you never told them about your parents but I'm sure they would find out if you killed the pilot of this Gundam."_

"Dammit…" Setsuna swore. There was nothing he could do as the Arche tried to pull the Seravee out of the water, /Please…let the others get here soon. If they don't…we're going to lose Tieria…/ Setsuna watched as the Arche struggled to pull the heavier Gundam out of the water.

Setsuna watched in shock as the Arche managed to finally pull the Seravee out of the water. He was afraid to attack. He could only get a clear shot of the backpack-like unit on the Seravee's back, The Seraphim. He knew that Tieria's cockpit was in the Seraphim and the smaller Gundam had almost no defensive power. If he shot at the Arche and hit the Seraphim instead, Tieria would be severely injured in the blast, if not killed. But he needed to do something, he couldn't let the enemy capture Tieria!

He was about to go and try to manually pry the Seraphim from the Seravee when a particle beam hit the Arche Gundam causing it to drop the Seravee back into the water. /Good…the others are here/ He thought as he too fired at the Arche.

"_Damn…It seems I'm outnumbered…you bastards will pay for my failed assignment the next time we meet."_ Saashez said, _"Your friend can stay with you for now, but we'll be back for him."_

"Tieria!" Setsuna cried, "Tieria! Tieria Erde please respond!"

"…_Setsuna…" _ Tieria's uncharacteristically weak and tired voice came.

"Tieria what happened?" Setsuna asked.

"_I don't know…" _Tieria whispered.

"Are you alright?"

"_No…" _Tieria mumbled, _"I'm not alright…ugh…"_

Setsuna sighed as Tieria coughed rather violently through the line, "Tieria, are you ill?" He asked.

"_Yeah…" _Tieria muttered, _"Setsuna…I really don't feel well…"_

"Alright," Setsuna said, "Take it easy. I'll contact Sumeragi, you're in no condition to pilot."

"_Setsuna," _Allelujah called, _"What's wrong with Tieria?"_

"He's ill," Setsuna said, "Allelujah, Lyle, I need you two to help me get the Seravee out of the water. Tieria was injured during the mission and he's ill. He's in no condition to pilot."

"_What happened to him?" _Allelujah asked.

"He fell while on the mission," Setsuna said, "He's probably got broken ribs and his right arm was dislocated. But something happened to him in the middle of the battle."

"_Setsuna!" _Sumeragi called_, "What's wrong with Tieria? Why isn't he responding?"_

Setsuna sighed. Tieria had either fallen asleep or fallen unconscious again, "He's ill," He responded, "Could you put the Seravee on auto-pilot. Even if he is conscious, he can't pilot. His right shoulder was dislocated."

"_Alright," _Sumeragi said in a gentler tone, _"I'll get the Seravee on auto-pilot. Do you know what's wrong with him?"_

"I don't," Setsuna said, "But he collapsed half-way through a battle. If Allelujah and Lyle didn't show up when they did, Tieria would have been captured."

"_What!" _Sumeragi gasped.

"I'll go into more detail later," Setsuna said, "Right now we should focus on getting Tieria back to the Ptolemaios. He needs medical attention."

"_Alright," _Sumeragi said, _"Mileina has the Seravee on auto-pilot but you three need to get the Seravee out of the water."_

"Ryoukai," Setsuna said, "Allelujah, Lyle help me get the Seravee out of the water."

The two other pilots assisted Setsuna then the four Gundams slowly made their way back to the Ptolemaios.

* * *

"It seems as though the mission failed," Ribbons said as he closed his link to Veda.

"What?" Hilling gasped, "Tieria Erde managed to get away?"

"Yes," Ribbons said, "It seems as though the Arche Gundam was not able to pull the Seravee Gundam from the water easily and in the time it took, the other Gundams were able to provide back-up." Ribbons paused, "However, Tieria Erde does seem to be rather ill right now. The nano-machines you injected him with seem to be working well. You can deactivate them now. We can activate again them when we need to. With any luck they won't notice them in his system."

"Okay," Hilling said, "I'm just glad they worked."

"They worked with Regene," Ribbons said, "Tieria and Regene have almost identical bodies. Tieria is slightly heavier that Regene but that's due to several years of military-like training. Therefore if one of them is intolerant to something the other has the same intolerance."

"So it's sorta like you and me then," Hilling said, "Today was the first time I had seen Tieria Erde so I had no idea he was the same type as Regene. There seems to be no data on him in Veda."

"That's because a system trap that Tieria somehow managed to trigger deleted all of the Meister's data from level seven," Ribbons said, "He has no idea that he did it either."

"I thought that it was deleted when the trap that triggered the Trans-Am system activated," Hilling said.

"No," Ribbons said, "I had hacked level seven before that trap was activated and the Meisters' data wasn't there."

"Ne, how come Tieria had direct access to level seven while you had to hack level seven to access it?" Hilling asked, "Weren't you the first of us to be awakened?"

"I was," Ribbons said, "However I temporarily lost some of my access rights when I gave up my position as a Meister. Once I hacked it I forced Veda to return my access rights."

"Then you completely kicked Tieria Erde from Veda," Hilling said, "When he returns to us, will you restore his access?"

"No," Ribbons said, "Tieria is different than you are. Tieria was the second to be awakened. Unlike you, Revive, Anew, Bring, Divine and Regene, he can access level seven when he's linked to Veda. His quantum brainwave signature contains a code to override the blocks I placed on his access rights. "The second was created to keep the first in check" was what I woke to. Tieria Erde can completely revoke any Innovator's access to Veda including mine. Which is why I want him under my strict watch, should he realize that he can restore his access, things will not go as _I _planned them to."

"That would be bad," Hilling said, "You mean that Tieria Erde would have control over you if he was connected to Veda?"

"Unfortunately," Ribbons said, "I want to see if I can figure out the code and deactivate it. Even if I kill him in the process trying to figure it out, I will remove that code from his brainwaves."

"I hope you're successful," Hilling said, "I don't want to have to answer to Tieria."

"I'll make sure that never happens," Ribbons said, "An Innovator that has reduced himself to nothing more a mere human hopeful has no right to be in full control of Veda."

* * *

Regene sighed as he listened from the other side of the broken window unbeknownst to Ribbons.

/So Tieria _is _a special type/ Regene thought, /I thought there was something different about him when I read through his brainwaves. No wonder Ribbons wants him back…/

Regene silently walked away. He had his own plan to work on.

* * *

Tieria could hear someone yelling as he slowly came back to consciousness. He was feeling slightly better. His head wasn't spinning anymore and his stomach was sick however it smelled strongly of vomit, meaning he had been sick at least once. He opened his eyes and attempted to prop himself up a bit.

"Tieria," Sumeragi called when she realized that the Meister had woken up, "Are you alright? What happened to you?"

"I really don't know," Tieria said quietly as he managed to sit up fully. He took a look around and found that he was lying on the floor in the hangar, "It was almost as if I was suffering from a migraine…but it was worse. My head was pounding, I couldn't see, I couldn't move and my stomach was sick."

"We could tell your stomach was sick!" Ian yelled from Seraphim's cockpit, "You threw up in your Gundam! If you weren't injured you'd be cleaning it up!"

"Leave him alone Ian," Sumeragi called, "He's not well." Sumeragi turned to Tieria, "It sounds almost like the symptoms you experienced when we found out about your intolerance to pain medications. I know you know better than to take the medicine but I still have to ask did you take anything?"

"I don't keep any of the medicine on me," Tieria said, "I don't even keep acetaminophen on me."

"Alright," Sumeragi said, "Did anyone offer you anything to eat or drink while you were on the mission?"

"No," Tieria, "One man offered to buy me a drink but I refused."

"Were you injected with anything?"

"No," Tieria responded, "I was skimmed in the wrist with a bullet but that's about it."

"Okay," Sumeragi said as she helped Tieria unzip his flight suit, "Come on let's get this off you."

"I can't move my arm at all," Tieria said.

"I know," Sumeragi said as she carefully pulled the top of the soiled flight suit off of Tieria, "Setsuna told us."

"Tieria," Allelujah said as he walked over to them, "You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"I've felt better," Tieria said softly as he supported his right arm. He wasn't exactly feeling sick anymore but he just wasn't feeling right. He just wanted to sleep for a while.

"Allelujah," Sumeragi said, "Will you help him?" She placed her hand on Tieria's shoulder, "Do you think you can make it to the medical room, Tieria?"

Tieria nodded. He went to stand however his head began to swim again and he nearly fell.

"Take it easy!" Allelujah cried as he caught Tieria, "You're not well."

"Thanks…" Tieria muttered. The pounding headache had returned. He couldn't understand why he felt so sick all of a sudden, he was fine before he left for the mission.

"What happened to you today?" Allelujah asked.

"I don't know," Tieria muttered, "In the middle of the battle my head started to pound, I couldn't see, I was dizzy and extremely nauseous."

"That almost sounds like what I would go through whenever I battled Soma Peries." Allelujah said. Then he remember something that Hallelujah had said to him four years ago /Tieria has quantum brainwaves. His are different from ours but there's no mistaking it/ "Tieria, I think you were suffering from some kind of quantum brainwave interference."

"Who knows…" Tieria mumbled as he held his head. He just wanted to lie down and sleep for a while, the nausea was starting to return.

"Come on," Sumeragi said as she placed her hand on Tieria's back, "He needs medical treatment."

* * *

Tieria was rather relieved when he got to lie down in the medical room. His head was pounding, he was incredibly dizzy and the nausea had returned in full force.

"Here Allelujah," Sumeragi said as she handed Allelujah one of the medical gown, "Help Tieria change into that then come get me when you're done."

Allelujah nodded as he helped Tieria remove the rest of his flight suit, "Setsuna mentioned that you may have broken a rib when you fell," he said, "Are you in pain at all?"

Tieria thought for a moment then realized that neither his side or his arm hurt, "For some reason, my arm and side don't hurt at all," he said softly, "I was in excruciating pain before Setsuna and I were attacked but…I'm not in pain at all anymore…it's odd…ugh…"

"Are you alright?" Allelujah said.

"I feel sick," Tieria muttered as he clutched his churning stomach.

"Are you going to be sick again?" Allelujah asked as he finished helping Tieria get changed.

"I don't know…" Tieria mumbled, "Maybe…"

Allelujah nodded, "Here," He said as he placed a waste paper basket right next to Tieria, "Just in case," Tieria nodded, "I'm going to get Sumeragi-san."

Allelujah walked into the medical room office, "Sumeragi-san," He called, "Tieria's all set."

"Alright," She said, "Is he feeling any better?"

"I don't think he is," Allelujah said, "Just before I came to get you he mentioned something about feeling sick again."

Sumeragi sighed, "He'll be able to rest once we get his shoulder back into place."

"Sumeragi-san," Allelujah said as he noticed the brace-like device in Sumeragi's hand, "You're not planning on setting Tieria's arm while he's still conscious are you?"

"I don't have a choice," Sumeragi said, "The only type of medication that Tieria can tolerate is the one from the capsule and once he's in the capsule he can't come out until the treatment is complete. I don't want to do it while he's still conscious either but I don't have a choice. I could either inject him with a local anesthesia and he'll get extremely sick or I could relocate his arm without anesthesia and he'll be subjected to the severe pain of setting a bone back in place."

"I wish there was something we could do," Allelujah said, "Tieria's already not feeling well as it is."

"Trust me," Sumeragi said, "I wish that there was something I could do as well. I don't want to see him suffer anymore than you do but sometimes we just don't have a choice. Well come on, the quicker we get in there the sooner Tieria can get some rest."

Allelujah and Sumeragi entered the medical room just in time to witness Tieria sit straight up, his face white, and his uninjured hand clamped to his mouth.

Sumeragi and Allelujah rushed over to the Tieria. Allelujah quickly grabbed the small bucket that had fallen to the floor when Tieria had bolted upright and held it up to Tieria just as he was sick.

Sumeragi sighed as she pulled Tieria's damp hair from his face and rubbed the boy's back as he was sick.

"It's alright," She said as Tieria choked and sobbed. She then sighed as she started strapping the brace-like device to Tieria's useless arm, shoulder and chest. "I'm sorry Tieria," She said softly, "But this is going to hurt." She then pulled a small lever and the device painfully snapped Tieria's injured arm back into place.

Tieria screamed in pain and clutched his injured arm. The pain had returned nearly tenfold.

"Calm down," Sumeragi said as she eased Tieria back against the bed, "Relax, Tieria relax, it'll all be over in a few minutes." She sighed, Tieria was hyperventilating, "Breathe…Come on Tieria breathe." When Tieria's breathing finally eased a bit she looked at Allelujah, "Allelujah, if you would."

Allelujah nodded and sighed as he carefully injected a bit of the medication that the capsule used into Tieria's uninjured arm. "I'm sorry Tieria," he said softly. He was bothered to see his comrade in such pain. He knew that Tieria had a high tolerance for pain but Tieria was crying and he hardly every cried.

"Go for the quickest option," Tieria whispered.

Sumeragi sighed, "Tieria…" She whispered as she placed her hand on Tieria's sweaty forehead and brushed some of his damp purple hair out of his face. She sighed again as she realized that Tieria was feverish /It's probably from the pain…/ she thought, /It's going to take him longer to recover now…/ "You know your body can't handle the quickest option," She said softly.

"Sumeragi please…" Tieria pleaded softly as his body began relaxing.

"I'll make a deal with you," She said, "I'll go for the quickest option that your body can handle."

"But…"

"Tieria…If I go for the quickest option, you might die," Sumeragi said, "The computer won't let me go for the quickest option anyway," She paused as Tieria struggled to keep his eyes open, "Don't worry about anything. You've been injured and you're sick, just close your eyes and rest for now. I'll see you in a few days."

When Tieria finally complied Sumeragi activated the capsule. The computer then brought up several treatment options. The longest treatment option would take three weeks and the shortest would take just a day. However the four quickest options were highlighted in red meaning Tieria's body wouldn't withstand them. The fastest it would take Tieria to recover was five days. /I was hoping for the two day option…/ She thought, /But there's nothing that can be done if Tieria's body isn't strong enough to withstand that option/

"How long is it going to take for him to recover?" Allelujah asked.

"Five days," Sumeragi said, "I was hoping for the two day option…but Tieria's running a fever and his body wouldn't be able to withstand it."

"Does it say what's making Tieria so sick?" Allelujah asked.

"Aside from his injuries, there's nothing wrong with him," Sumeragi said, "I think it's a combination of stress and the pain he's in that's made him so sick. He should be fine when he wakes up. As mean as it may sound I'm kind of glad this happened…he really needs to just sleep for a few days." She sighed, "Well come on, there's really nothing more we can do for him." She linked the capsule to her communicator that way she would be notified if anything happened to the boy.

* * *

Mileina sighed as she stood outside the medical room. She had heard from Setsuna that Tieria had fallen ill and was injured during the mission. When Sumeragi and Allelujah left the medical room she snuck inside. Normally she wasn't one to sneak around, but she didn't want anyone to know about her and Tieria.

She could feel the tears welling up as she walked up to the medical capsule. Tieria was very pale and while it looked as though he was just sleeping soundly, she could see the subtle look of pain on the boy's face. She brought up Tieria's stats. The Meister was running a fever of nearly thirty-nine degrees, he had fractured two ribs on his right side and his arm had been dislocated. I was going to take Tieria five days to recover from the injuries he had sustained.

"You said you would return safely," Mileina whispered as the tears fell from her eyes, "You lied."

* * *

Poor Tieria, I really like to torture him don't I? So what happened to him while he was piloting? Why did he get so sick (aside from the fact that I like to torture him)? Ribbons sent Ali-Al Saashez to capture Tieria but he failed…and what is Ribbons planning exactly? I'll answer these questions eventually. Until next time minna-san! Ja ne!

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


	6. Preparing for the Worst

Konnichiwa Minna-san! I know it's been a while since I updated this but I had some major computer problems. Since the last time I updated I lost this chapter about three times because I had a laptop that liked to eat fanfiction for breakfast. However that's no longer a problem, my old laptop was deemed beyond repair (finally!) and I got a brand new one. I don't have much to say about this chapter so after the disclaimer you can get started.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam 00 or the characters but Veda is being nice and allowing me borrow them for a while.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Six: Preparing for the Worst

Setsuna sighed as he stood over the medical capsule that Tieria was resting in. The Meister was a mess. He had fractured two ribs on his right side and the tissue damage from dislocating his shoulder was extensive. Despite the regenerative treatment there was a chance that Tieria's shoulder would not heal properly possibly rendering him unable to pilot ever again.

"There you are Setsuna,"

"Sumeragi Li Noriega," Setsuna said as he turned from his comrade, "What is it?"

"I need you to go into more detail about what you told me earlier," Sumeragi said, "You said that if Lockon and Allelujah didn't get to the two of you when they did Tieria would have been captured?"

"We fought an improved version of the Throne that killed Neil Dylandi," Setsuna said, "He said that he had a special mission involving Tieria. After Tieria fell unconscious Ali-Al-Saashez tried to capture Tieria."

"What!" Sumeragi exclaimed.

"He wouldn't pay any attention to me at all," Setsuna said, "I tried to get him away from the Seravee but…He was too close to Tieria…if I missed I would have hit Tieria instead. He had just gotten the Seravee out of the water when the others showed up. I think the enemy is after Tieria for some reason."

Sumeragi gasped as she tried to digest what Setsuna had told her, "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Ali-Al-Saashez told me: "The only person I'm interested in now is your little injured friend over there." Shortly after that Tieria collapsed," Setsuna said, "Besides being injured, I think something else happened to Tieria to make him so sick."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was helping him change into his flight suit I found this stuck in the back of Tieria's neck." Setsuna took a small dart-like needle out of his pocket.

Sumeragi took the small needle and walked over to one of the scanners, "Why didn't you bring this up sooner," Sumeragi said as she started to analyze what Setsuna had given her, "We may be treating Tieria for the wrong illness. Setsuna try to see if you can find traces of any kind of medication or poison in Tieria's bloodstream."

Setsuna nodded and did what he was told but aside from the medication from the capsule, he found nothing, "I'm not finding anything," Setsuna said.

"Neither am I." Sumeragi said, "There was nothing but traces of saline on the syringe…unless they injected him with cell-destroying nanomachines…Setsuna hurry check for that."

"There's nothing of the sort in Tieria's body," Setsuna said, "There's an increased number of nanomachines in Tieria's body but he is undergoing treatment for broken bones and damaged tissue."

Sumeragi sighed in relief, "Maybe it's as Allelujah said," She said, "Perhaps Tieria was experiencing some form of quantum brainwave interference."

"Let's hope so," Setsuna said. He had a bad feeling that whatever caused Tieria's sudden illness was not going to be something that they could easily deal with and he hoped that he was wrong.

* * *

Mileina did not like what she was hearing. The enemy wanted Tieria. She didn't want to believe a word of what Setsuna had said and yet, Setsuna never lied. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes but she couldn't cry, if she did, Setsuna and Sumeragi would find her and she didn't want that.

"What should we do about it?" Setsuna said, "We can't keep him from fighting…but if we send him out there's a chance that the enemy will do what they did today."

"I really don't know," Sumeragi said, "The only thing I can think of doing is putting some sort of scanner under his skin to monitor his heart rate and body temperature and making it easier to control Seravee's autopilot."

"We should take those precautions," Setsuna said, "The enemy seems to know a lot about Tieria."

"Alright," Sumeragi said, "I'm going to go see if I can find Mileina. I'll need her to work on the scanner and the autopilot system for the Seravee."

"Alright," Setsuna said as Sumeragi left the room. He spent a few more minutes watching the steady rise and fall of Tieria's chest as he breathed. He was about leave when he heard what he thought was someone crying. He peered behind the capsule and found Mileina Vashti sitting on the floor. "Mileina Vashti," He said causing the girl to look up in shock, "What's wrong?"

"Seiei-san…" Mileina gasped as she looked up, "It's nothing."

"You're crying," Setsuna said, "What's wrong?"

"I'm worried about Er…T-Tieria-san," She said, "He's really not doing well right now…and…well…please don't tell anyone about this but…I love him…and…I don't know what I would do…if something was to happen to him…"

"Mileina…" Setsuna gasped.

"He told me that nothing would happen to him on the mission," Mileina cried, "And yet…he'll be here for five days…because he got hurt during the mission…"

"There were a lot of things that happened on the last mission that we couldn't predict," Setsuna said, "Infiltration missions are always hard to predict."

"I know that," Mileina sobbed, "But then I heard that he got really sick on the way back…and then he was nearly captured…what's going to happen if he does get taken by the enemy?"

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen," Setsuna said as he put his arm around the girl to comfort her, "I'll protect him."

"Thank you Seiei-san…" Mileina muttered.

* * *

"Ribbons," Hilling whined, "When are we going to go after Tieria Erde again?"

"In a few days," Ribbons said.

"Why do we have to wait?" Hilling whined, "Why can't we kill him now?"

"Tieria is currently undergoing medical treatment," Ribbons said, "If we were to try using the nano-machines you injected him with, they would be eliminated by the medical nano-machines."

"I don't see why we couldn't have just used cell-destroying nano-machines," Hilling said, "That's what I would have done if were you."

"We need Tieria Erde on our side," Ribbons said, "The cell-destroying nano-machines would have robbed him of his usefulness. We'll need him if we want to destroy Celestial Being once and for all. We can use cell-destroying nano-machines later on if we need to."

"So…you couldn't get Tieria Erde to join us could you?"

"Regene…" Ribbons said as he put his hand to his forehead, "You certainly made a mess of things."

"You were the one who made Tieria Erde angry," Regene said, "I set things up perfectly. Perhaps if you had handled him better he might have joined us. Like the rest of us, he seems to hold the plan in high regard. Instead of bringing up Neil Dylandi you should have mentioned the plan."

"Let me handle getting Tieria Erde to join us," Ribbons said, "You'll just make a mess of things like you did this time."

"Although I think it would be better to have Tieria Erde against us," Hilling said, "It was so boring with just Katheron against us. I mean without Celestial Being against us it won't be any fun at all." She smirked, "We could wipe out Katheron in a second if we really wanted to."

"Oh don't worry," Ribbons said, "We won't eliminate Celestial Being right away. We'll make them suffer for a while. We'll show Celestial Being what Tieria Erde is really like."

"Sounds like a plan," Hilling said.

"In the next operation I'll have Revive head out and then maybe Bring as well," Ribbons said, "We'll get Tieria Erde back soon enough."

"Can I have a machine of my own as well Ribbons?" Hilling asked.

"Of course," Ribbons said, "You can have whatever you want."

"Arigato Ribbons."

Regene sighed. He couldn't stand when Hilling threw herself at Ribbons the way she was doing now. For some reason Ribbons was not able to say no to Hilling and it annoyed him. If he was to throw himself at Ribbons in that manner the consequences would be severe.

"Do you want a mobile suit of your own Regene?" Ribbons asked, "The GRM Gundam is still lying around, do you want it again?"

"What do you mean again?" Regene asked, "I have no intention of piloting a mobile suit, let alone a Gundam."

"Oh well," Ribbons said, "I'm sure Tieria Erde can make use of that Gundam if he wants. It was created using the blueprints from his original Gundam."

"Do what you want," Regene muttered as he left the room.

"He's an odd one," Hilling said, "Let's hope that Tieria Erde doesn't refuse to fight the way Regene does."

"Tieria will fight for us," Ribbons said, "I have the perfect leverage to make him fight for us. He either fights or we kill the people he holds closest to his pathetic "human" heart."

* * *

Sumeragi was rather surprised when she found Mileina in the medical room.

"There you are Mileina," She said, "I've been looking all over for you. What are you working on?"

"I overheard the conversation you had with Seiei-san," Mileina said, "So I started working on a small medical scanner that can be placed either in Tieria-san's wrist or the back of his neck."

"That's good," Sumeragi said. Then she realized something. Mileina never called anyone by their first name and yet instead of saying Erde-san, she used Tieria-san, "When did you start calling Tieria by his first name?"

Mileina's eyes widened and she blushed furiously, "Earlier today…" She said sheepishly, "After I told him I love him…"

Sumeragi gasped, "You told Tieria that you love him?" She asked. She knew for a fact that Tieria could not comprehend the concepts of love and hate. It was one of the many, many things that made her question the boy's past and upbringing. But even Tieria didn't know much about his past before starting with Celestial Being nearly ten years ago. A few years before they started their armed interventions one of the young women working for the organization confessed her love for Tieria just to be turned down by him. "What did he say?"

"He kind of gasped when I told him," Mileina said, "Then he told me to call him Tieria. He said that if you were going to tell a person that you love them that you should use their first name. Then he told me that he wasn't human and didn't fully understand what love was but…he would try his best."

"Tieria…accepted…?" Sumeragi asked.

"I think he did," Mileina said, "He said that he was glad that he finally knew why I acted odd around him. I was expecting him to scold me for being foolish but he didn't…I don't know if he has the same feelings for me but what he said was enough for me. He's really a kind person he just doesn't know how to show it."

"Tieria is kind in his own…strange ways," Sumeragi said, "But he does truly care for all of us here. How much longer is it going to take to finish that?"

"Not too much longer," Mileina said, "However, I won't be able to finish it completely until Tieria-san wakes up. It will need to be set to his heart rate and body temperature."

"Okay," Sumeragi said, "Because we'll need you to add almost a remote control feature to Seravee. That way if, god forbid, Tieria falls ill during a mission again and can't pilot we could take over for him."

"Alright," Mileina said, "I'll do that while I'm repairing Seravee."

"Alright," Sumeragi said, "I'll have Feldt take over for you."

"Thank you Noriega-san," Mileina said.

* * *

Sumeragi was starting to get worried. It had been nearly three days since Tieria had started the treatment for his injuries and yet, he was still running a fever.

/It's times like this I wish Doctor Moreno was still alive/ She thought, /He would know what to do in this situation/

She opened Tieria's treatment file from the computer and read it. She found that the capsule was still working to repair the damage to his shoulder and ribs. /It hasn't gotten to his fever yet/ She thought, /But it still doesn't make any sense…if his fever was caused by stress or pain, it should have gone down by now…but then again, he's not really resting. He's unconscious but his body is using a lot of energy to repair itself…I hope he's alright when he wakes up/

* * *

Tieria woke up to a dull ache in his head and right shoulder. He was still feeling off. The nausea had gone away but he still wasn't feeling right.

"How are you feeling?" Sumeragi asked as he sat up.

"Alright," Tieria said. He was groggy and disoriented and he wanted to know why his shoulder still hurt so badly, "But my shoulder…"

Sumeragi sighed, "Your shoulder didn't heal properly," She said, "It only healed about eighty percent. We tried to see if we could extend the treatment to completely heal the damage but due to your intolerances to some of the more powerful treatment options there was nothing that could be done. Unfortunately, the damage is permanent."

"Can I still pilot?" Tieria asked.

"You're still clear to pilot," Sumeragi said. Tieria sighed in relief, "However we're worried about what happened to you the last time you piloted. Setsuna said you fell ill and collapsed in the middle of the battle. Setsuna said that the enemy tried to capture you after you fell unconscious."

Tieria's eyes widened, "I was nearly captured?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sumeragi said, "We're worried that their going to try doing the same thing again."

"What are you going to do about it?" Tieria asked.

"We've enhanced Seravee's autopilot function. That way if you start feeling ill in the middle of a battle either you or Mileina can set the autopilot and she can remotely take control of your Gundam."

"Sounds good," Tieria said.

"However there's one more things we want to do before we release you," Sumeragi said, "We want to implant a small medical chip either in your wrist or the back of your neck…however, it will be painful. Would you rather have it implanted in the back of your neck or you wrist?"

Having a small chip surgically implanted under his skin while he was conscious was not something he wanted to go through. But they didn't have a choice, any kind of anesthesia or pain reliever made him violently ill for days afterwards. And as much as he didn't want to endure the pain he really didn't want to spend at least two days in bed due to extreme nausea.

"I'll have the procedure done on my wrist," Tieria said. The inside of the wrist was much less sensitive than the back of the neck and seemed like the lesser of the two evils.

"Alright," Sumeragi said as Feldt prepared a tourniquet around his right arm.

"You favor your left arm right?" Feldt asked.

"Yeah," Tieria said. He could write with either hand however due to injuries he had sustained four years ago he had started to favor his left hand.

"Okay," Feldt said as she finished with the tourniquet, "We'll put it in your right wrist then. Mileina, will you start to ice his right wrist?"

"Hai," Mileina said as she applied ice to Tieria's wrist and he flinched a bit, "I'm sorry Tieria-san, I know it's cold."

"Don't worry about it," Tieria said, "It's nothing compared to the pain I'm about to go through."

"You're so brave," Mileina said, "I don't think I would be able to do what you're about to do."

Tieria sighed, "You get used to it Mileina," he said, "You learn to deal with the pain. It's not like I can't have pain medication, it makes me extremely sick."

"I think I would rather deal with the pain if that's the case," Mileina said.

"Alright," Feldt said, "I think we're good to start." She gave Tieria a small ball of what looked like clay, "If it starts to really hurt, squeeze that with your left hand. It's going to hurt but try not to pull your arm away."

Tieria nodded. During the four years they had gone into hiding to rebuild, Feldt had been working with the medics at Lagrange three. With the death of Joyce Moreno during Operation Fallen Angels, they no longer had a doctor. So Feldt volunteered to become their medic, so to speak.

"Mileina," Feldt called, "I'm going to need your help. Once I make the incision you're going to have to implant the chip and program it."

"Okay," Mileina said as she picked the small chip up with tweezers.

"We're going to get started now," Feldt said, "Tieria…I'm sorry…" She then made a small incision.

Tieria gasped as the small knife cut his skin and he clenched his teeth to keep himself from crying out in pain. Procedures like this one were never easy for him. They would always leave him feeling weak and almost faint for several hours afterwards.

"Mileina," Feldt said.

"Hai," She responded as she carefully placed the small chip inside the cut, "Don't worry Tieria-san this won't take long." She then took the small computer that was attached to the chip by two thin wires and started programming it. She wanted to do it as quickly as possible. She could tell that Tieria was in pain. When she was finished she removed the wires from the chip, "It's all set Feldt."

"Alright," Feldt said as she started stitching the wound, "Don't worry Tieria, I'm almost done."

Tieria nodded. The pain was making him extremely dizzy. He had a high tolerance to pain but there was only so much he could handle. Normally this kind of procedure was done while the patient was asleep or on some kind of pain relievers however, both options were out of the question for him.

"You're doing great Tieria," Sumeragi said as she ran her fingers through the Meister's hair, "Just a few more minutes." She really felt bad for Tieria. She could tell that he was in pain. His face was extremely pale and his eyes were tightly closed.

Once Feldt finished stitching the wound she gently wrapped it in a gauze bandage, "We're done," She said, "You should probably take it easy for the rest of the day. It's going to take a while for the pain to go away."

"Just stay here for a bit," Sumeragi said, "I'll call Allelujah to help you back to your room. I don't want to go alone just in case you start feeling faint on your way." Tieria nodded, "Are you going to be okay?"

Once again Tieria only nodded. But no one blamed him for not wanting to talk, he had just gone through a minor surgical procedure fully conscious and without the use of anesthesia.

A few minutes later Allelujah entered the medical room. "How is he doing?" he asked.

"He's in pain," Sumeragi said, "We just put a small medical chip in his wrist."

"Alright," Allelujah said as he walked over to the bed. He gasped slightly when he saw Tieria. The smaller Meister's face was nearly the same shade as the bed sheet he was laying on, "Are you alright Tieria?"

"Give me a while," Tieria muttered as he put his uninjured hand to his forehead.

"I brought something comfortable for you to change into," Allelujah said as the girls left, "Do you want me to help you?"

"Yes please," Tieria mumbled, "Just be careful with my right arm…"

"Alright," Allelujah said as he helped Tieria change into the outfit he had brought for him. "Are you ready to go back to you room?" he asked once they were done. Tieria nodded and Allelujah helped him stand up. "Just let me know if you want to take a break or if you start feeling worse."

Tieria nodded. He just wanted to get back to his room and sleep for a while. Once in the waiting room they ran into Sumeragi, Feldt and Mileina.

"How are you feeling?" Sumeragi asked as she placed her hand to Tieria's forehead. She wanted to make sure he wasn't running a fever. For the past few days his temperature had been rising and falling sporadically. She had a feeling that it was caused by the medical treatment. Tieria's body did not take well to medical treatment at all but she was still concerned for the pilot's health.

"I think I just need to lie down for a while," Tieria said with a weak smile, "I'll be alright."

"Alright," Sumeragi said, "Sleep well."

Tieria nodded and leaned against Allelujah.

"Come on," Allelujah said as he gently led Tieria down the hall to the Meister's quarters, "You need to rest for a while."

* * *

Tieria was relived to get back to his room. The pain from the procedure was terrible and he was still extremely drowsy from the capsule. "Thank you Allelujah," He mumbled as he got into his bed.

"You're welcome," Allelujah said, "Call me if you need anything when you wake up." Tieria nodded as he clutched his wrist, "Do you want some ice for your wrist?"

"Please…" Tieria muttered, "If I'm not awake when you return just rest my wrist on the ice."

"Okay," Allelujah said, "I'll be back in a bit."

When Allelujah returned to Tieria's room, the purple-haired Meister was asleep. He carefully lifted Tieria's injured wrist and placed it on top of the ice pack he brought. He then placed a cool compress on Tieria's forehead. He dimmed the lights and left the other Meister to sleep.

* * *

Poor Tieria…He can't seem to catch a break but then again, I'm the one in charge of this story so I get to call the shots. Will Celestial Being notice the extra nano-machines in Tieria's bloodstream? How will Ribbons' plan to capture Tieria play out? Will the steps that Sumeragi and Mileina are taking be enough to keep Tieria from danger? Just a few things to think about while I'm working on the next chapter. Until next time, ja ne Minna-san.

Oh just a little side note, The GRM (pronounced Garm...I think) Gundam is a real mobile suit and was piloted by Regene during the four year time skip in one of the side stories (I'm too lazy to look it up right now, it's almost two in the morning) But to make a long story short that bastard Ribbons wiped Regene's memory of piloting that Gundam and it is currently collecting dust in one of the hangar in the _Celestial Being _Mother-ship.

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


	7. Speculations and Truth

Konnichiwa Minna-san! It's been forever hasn't it? I was stuck as to what to do for this chapter for a while…the chapter that I originally intended for number seven was much too short and I spent months trying to figure out what to do with it. But I figured it out and I'm back.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam 00 or the characters but Veda is being nice and allowing me borrow them for a while.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Seven: Speculations and Truth

Tieria woke up a few hours later to the E-sensor warning bell that was in his chambers. He quickly sat up and got ready to sortie. His wrist was still a little tender but the pain was no longer terrible.

"Sumeragi," He called, "What's going on?"

"We're being ambushed," Sumeragi said, "But don't worry about it. We have everything under control, just get some rest."

"Let me sortie," Tieria said.

"Tieria…" Sumeragi gasped, "It's still too soon. You're not fully recovered yet."

"I'll be fine," Tieria said as he started to change into his flight suit, "Let me sortie."

"Alright," Sumeragi sighed, "But Tieria, if you start feeling sick during the mission I want you to fall back immediately!"

"I understand," Tieria said as he grabbed his helmet and headed towards his door.

"Be careful Tieria," Sumeragi said, "I have a bad feeling about this…"

* * *

When Tieria got out on the battlefield he noticed that the enemies' movements changed. The minute he had appeared on the battlefield the enemies went from an offensive battle strategy to a defensive one. The GN-X units they were up against weren't firing and were dodging almost every shot.

/It's almost as if the enemy is buying time/ Tieria thought as yet another GN-X dodged him, /But why?/ Then Tieria remembered what had happened during the battle against Ali Al-Saachez and his stomach dropped, /This is a trap...for me…/

"Setsuna!" He called, "Cover me I'm-" Tieria was then cut off by a sharp, blinding pain in his head and he cried out.

"_Tieria, what's wrong?" _Setsuna called, _"Tieria!"_

"Cover me…" Tieria mumbled as the headache held strong nausea set in.

"_Ryoukai," _Setsuna responded as he took a defensive position in front of the Seravee as the larger Gundam moved away from the combat airspace.

* * *

"Noriega-san," Mileina called, "Seravee is moving away from the combat airspace!"

Sumeragi sighed as she checked Tieria's vital stats, "Feldt, when you get a chance could you prep the medical room," She said, "Tieria's not well."

"Ryoukai," Feldt said as she continued to monitor things on the battlefield.

"Noriega-san," Mileina said a few minutes later, "The enemy sent up the withdraw flair!"

"Alright," Sumeragi said, "Find the Seravee's coordinates then send them to Setsuna. After you do that, prepare the shuttle. We'll go pick up Tieria when Allelujah returns."

"Hai," Mileina said as she started sending orders to the remaining pilots, /Please be alright, Tieria-san/

* * *

Setsuna sighed as he landed beside the Seravee. As he left his cockpit he spotted Tieria lying against the foot of the Seravee, his face pale and his arms clutching his abdomen. Once he got on the ground he could see that Tieria had been sick several times. He walked over to Tieria knelt down next to him and sighed. Tieria appeared to be asleep but Setsuna couldn't be too sure of that.

"Tieria," He called softly as he took note of the gun in Tieria's left hand. Startling the purple haired Meister would not end well, "Tieria Erde."

"Setsuna…F. Seiei…" Tieria muttered as Setsuna moved closer to him. Then without warning Tieria suddenly vomited on Setsuna, "I…I'm sorry…"

"Don't worry about it," Setsuna said as he removed the soiled top of his flight suit and placed his hand on Tieria's forehead, /He's on fire…/ he thought as he brought out his communicator and called Sumeragi.

"Setsuna," Sumeragi called, "Did you find Tieria?"

"Yeah," Setsuna said, "Could you send the shuttle? Tieria's really ill again."

"I had a feeling that was the case," Sumeragi said, "Allelujah, Mileina and I are on our way. Is it the same thing as before?"

"Yeah," Setsuna said.

"Okay," Sumeragi said, "We'll be there soon."

Setsuna sighed as he entered the Seravee's cockpit. He grabbed several pouches of water and a small towel. "Tieria," He called softly as he knelt beside Tieria again but keeping his distance this time.

"Setsuna…" Tieria muttered, "I really…don't feel well."

"I know you don't," Setsuna said as he cleaned Tieria up as well as he could while still keeping his distance from Tieria's face, "Don't worry about it just rest."

"I felt fine…before I left," Tieria mumbled as Setsuna handed him a pouch of water, "I don't…understand why…I feel so ill…"

"We'll find out what's wrong with you," Setsuna said as he placed the top of his flight suit under Tieria's head, "Just relax."

About five minutes later the shuttle landed beside the Double-0.

"Setsuna," Allelujah called as he left the shuttle followed by Sumeragi.

"Tieria's asleep," Setsuna said, "He's really sick."

"I'm guessing he has the same symptoms as before," Sumeragi said.

"Yeah," Setsuna said.

"So it's a high fever, extreme nausea and vomiting then," Sumeragi said, "Hopefully this time we find out what's wrong with him."

Allelujah walked up to Tieria and carefully picked him up. "Don't worry Tieria," He said as he felt Tieria's entire body tense up, "It's me Allelujah."

Allelujah started to walk toward the shuttle when Tieria moaned and vomited again, "I'm sorry…" Tieria choked.

"It's alright Tieria," Allelujah said, "You didn't get any on me."

"Hurry Allelujah," Sumeragi said, "The quicker we get him back the sooner we find out what's wrong with him. Setsuna, Ian is putting the Seravee on autopilot as we speak. I want you to escort it back to the Ptolemaios just in case."

"Ryoukai," Setsuna responded as he returned to his Gundam, "Take care of him."

Allelujah nodded and entered the shuttle. He carefully set Tieria down on one of the benches, "Take it easy Tieria."

Tieria nodded as he turned on his side and clutched his aching stomach.

"Tieria-san," Mileina called softly as she knelt in front of Tieria.

"Mileina…" Tieria whispered as the girl placed a small wastepaper basket in front of Tieria, "My stomach…"

"I know," Mileina said softly as she placed a cold compress on Tieria's forehead, "Don't talk for now, you'll be alright."

"How's he doing?" Sumeragi asked as she knelt down beside Mileina.

"He's in pain," Mileina said as she sponged Tieria's forehead, "His fever's really high too."

Sumeragi sighed, "I think I'm going to see if we can get a doctor to look at him," She said, "I think his condition is critical."

"You think…he's in trouble?" Mileina asked.

"Look at him Mileina," Sumeragi said, "He has all the symptoms of appendicitis and if he has appendicitis he will need a doctor. Our medical capsules can't do anything for it either." She looked at the girl, "I don't mean to scare you but Tieria needs a doctor."

"I understand," Mileina said as she ran her fingers through Tieria's sweaty purple hair.

"Honestly if the A-Laws weren't pursuing us, I would take him to a hospital," Sumeragi said, "But we can't risk that right now. We're just going to have to hope for the best."

* * *

By the time they returned to the Ptolemaios, Tieria, to nearly everyone's relief, had fallen into a light sleep.

"Bring him to the medical room Allelujah," Sumeragi whispered, "Feldt should have it prepped by now."

Allelujah nodded and headed to the medical room. When he got there he gently placed Tieria on one of the beds, "Do you want me to get him changed?"

"I'm not sure that will be necessary," Sumeragi said, "We'll get the diagnosis first and we'll go from there."

"Alright," Allelujah said as Setsuna walked into the medical room, "Was Ian able to get the Seravee back?"

"Yeah," Setsuna said, "How's he doing?"

"He hasn't changed much," Allelujah said, "We're just about to see if we can figure out what's wrong with him."

Sumeragi started up the computer and gasped at the data she was given.

"What's wrong?" Mileina asked fearfully.

"Nothing," Sumeragi said, "There's absolutely nothing wrong with him. Aside from the fever there's no sign of infection or illness."

"What about the appendicitis?" Mileina asked.

"It can't be that," Sumeragi said, "He must have had his appendix removed."

"Are there any treatment options?" Allelujah asked.

"No," Sumeragi said, "And there's nothing I can give him either."

"So what are we going to do?" Mileina asked.

"I'm still going to get him a doctor," Sumeragi said, "But aside from that and treating him as if he has the flu there's nothing else that can be done."

"Could it be something he ate?" Allelujah asked remembering that there were several foods that Tieria couldn't eat.

"He hasn't had anything to eat in a while," Sumeragi said, "It couldn't be that."

"What about a stomach virus?" Setsuna asked.

"Even a severe one wouldn't make him this sick," Sumeragi said, "Something must have happened to him during the infiltration mission. I just hope he pulls through. Allelujah, Setsuna, Mileina will you three bring Tieria back to his room. I'm going to put a call through to Krung Thep and see if they can send a doctor."

"Alright," Allelujah said as he gently lifted Tieria from the bed, "Mileina, would you mind waiting outside of Tieria's room while he get him changed?"

"No," Mileina said, "I have to get what I need to set up an IV."

"Okay," Allelujah said, "Don't worry, we'll take care of Tieria and get him back to health."

The girl nodded as Allelujah and Setsuna left the medical room with Tieria. She then walked into the supply room to get what she needed to keep Tieria hydrated. She could hear Sumeragi talking to the head medic at Krung Thep and from what Mileina could tell, it didn't sound promising. They were still on Earth and it would take several days for someone from Krung Thep to reach their location. In the condition that he was in, Tieria couldn't wait a few days, he needed to see a doctor as soon as possible.

Sumeragi had ended the call when Mileina walked out of the storage closet, "What's going to happen?" she asked.

"They're going to send Wang Liu Mei's private doctor," Sumeragi said, "We'll be meeting her in a few hours. For now just set up the IV and monitor Tieria."

"Alright," Mileina said as she left the room.

"Call me if anything happens," Sumeragi said, "I'm going to prepare the shuttle again."

Mileina nodded and walked towards Tieria's room. When she arrived, Allelujah and Setsuna had already changed Tieria into something more comfortable than his flight suit.

"He hasn't changed much," Allelujah said softly as Mileina nodded and started to set up the IV.

* * *

When Mileina finished securing the needle Tieria stirred and moaned but did not open his eyes. "Tieria-san," She said softly, "Are you awake?"

"Mileina…" Tieria whispered, "Why can't I feel anything…"

"What do you mean?" Mileina asked as she stroked Tieria's warm sweaty face.

"I can't feel…my arms or legs…" Tieria murmured.

"C-can you move them?" Mileina asked as fear began to build up in the pit of her stomach.

There was a slightly stained look on Tieria's face, "No…" he gasped as he panted for breath a bit.

Mileina gasped in horror as she lifted Tieria's limp arm off the bed.

"What's wrong Mileina?" Setsuna asked. Both he and Allelujah were standing too far from the bed to hear or see what was happening.

"He can't move…" Mileina whispered as she tried to keep herself from crying, "He can't feel his arms or legs either…what's happening to him…?"

"Calm down Mileina," Allelujah said, "Let's call Sumeragi-san and see what she wants us to do."

Mileina nodded, "Noriega-san," She called over the communication system, "Please report to Tieria-san's room immediately!"

Several minutes later Sumeragi entered the room, "What's going on?" she asked.

"Tieria-san can't move…" Mileina muttered, "He can't feel his arms or legs either."

"Get him Allelujah," Sumeragi said, "The doctor is on her way to meet Lasse and she'll be here within the hour."

Allelujah nodded and went to pick Tieria up. "It's alright Tieria," Allelujah cooed as Tieria flinched and cried out as Allelujah picked him up. "It's Allelujah," He said as Tieria opened his eyes, "See it's me."

"I…can't see…" Tieria muttered.

"Do you want us to turn on a light?" Allelujah said, "It is rather dark in here." He watched as Setsuna turned the desk light on, "Is that better?"

"No…" Tieria said, "I can't see anything…"

Sumeragi gasped but kept her cool, "Bring him down to the medical room," Sumeragi said, "We'll figure things out then."

* * *

When the doctor arrived, Tieria hadn't gotten worse but he hadn't improved at all either.

"What seems to be the problem here?" She asked, "You mentioned that you had an emergency on your hands."

"Earlier one of our pilots fell ill during a mission," Sumeragi said, "He came down with a high fever, extreme nausea, severe abdominal pain and vomiting. We thought that maybe he had appendicitis but we found that he doesn't have an appendix. A little while ago he started to complain of numbness in his arms and legs and blindness."

"Is he awake?" The woman asked.

"I believe he is," Sumeragi said, "Tieria can you open your eyes for me?"

Tieria opened his eyes and the doctor almost immediately shined a bright light in his eyes. He flinched at the light and moaned a bit.

"Can you see that?" The woman asked.

"No…"

"You flinched didn't you?" She asked, "You can't see anything yet you're sensitive to light."

"A lot of blind people are still sensitive to light," Sumeragi said.

"I think I know that," The doctor lifted Tieria's arm and started to prick his fingers a bit, "I _am_ a doctor after all. Can you feel that?" She asked.

"No."

"Are you sure?" She asked as she jabbed Tieria in the hand.

"I can't feel anything at all," Tieria said.

"You didn't flinch so I guess it's true." The woman said, "May I use your medical capsule?"

"Go ahead," Sumeragi said.

* * *

Sumeragi, Mileina and Allelujah watched as the doctor completed her examination.

"How does it look?" Sumeragi asked as the doctor turned to her.

The woman sighed, "To be honest, it doesn't look good," She said as she opened the capsule.

"What do you mean?" Sumeragi asked.

The woman sighed again, "The capsule's computer can't find anything wrong with him," She said, "It's classifying the fever as the result of a virus. My guess is that the virus he came down with mutated and attacked his nervous system."

"Is he going to recover from this?" Allelujah asked.

"I hate to have to put it this way," The woman said, "But if he survives he will have several physical disabilities and he may or may not regain his sight as a result. Even if he survives this he will never pilot again."

"What do you mean by _if_ he survives?" Mileina asked fearfully.

"With all cases like this I've seen, very few have survived this stage," She said, "Right now whether he survives or not is completely up to this boy's will to live. All I can say is keep him comfortable and whatever happens, happens. But honestly, I don't think he'll live through the night."

"Thank you," Sumeragi said as the doctor packed up her belongings.

"I would have a Haro unit monitor him," The woman said, "If it is contagious, you'll want to isolate it so no one else gets sick."

When the woman left the room Allelujah sighed, "Something about what she said bothered me," he said, "And it wasn't because of what she did to Tieria and that she said he was going to die. Something about her bothered me."

"I know. Something about her didn't seem right," Sumeragi said, "For now we're going to bring him to his room and monitor him closely."

Allelujah nodded and walked up to Tieria, "Tieria, it's Allelujah," He said, "I'm going to pick you up now." Tieria moaned a bit in compliance and Allelujah picked Tieria up.

"When we…get back to…my room," Tieria muttered, "Can I…talk to Mileina…alone?"

"Okay," Allelujah said as he headed towards the door.

* * *

When they got to Tieria's room Allelujah set the purple haired Meister on the bed, "I'll be outside," He said, "Let me know when you're done."

"I will," Mileina said as she walked up to Tieria's bed, "Tieria-san…you wanted to talk to me?"

"I don't want you to worry about me," Tieria muttered as he opened his empty, unseeing garnet eyes, "I'll be alright…I'll recover from this. Even if I can never pilot again I promise I will survive this."

"Thank you," Mileina muttered as she closed her hand around Tieria's, "I know you'll be okay."

"I have something for you," Tieria said, "I know your birthday isn't for a few more days…but I want to give it to you now."

"Tell me where it is," Mileina said, "I'll get it for you."

"It's in the top left drawer of my desk," Tieria said, "It should be in a small box."

Mileina did what Tieria told her to do, "I found it," Mileina said, "What do you want me to do now?"

"Put it in my hand," Tieria said, "Then take it from my hand…since I can't give it to you myself."

"Okay," Mileina said as she placed the box in Tieria's hand. She watched as Tieria tried to close his hand around the box. She could see the tears building up in Tieria's eyes as he finally managed to grab the box.

"Here," Tieria muttered panting from the strain, "Happy Birthday…Mileina."

The girl took the box and gasped when she opened it. Sitting on a velvet holder was a small silver locket with several amethyst crystals forming the letter M. "It's beautiful Tieria-san," She said as she took the locket in her hands. She opened it and found a picture of her on one side and a picture of Tieria on the other, "When did you get this?"

"Setsuna and I had some time before we had to go to the party," Tieria said, "So we went to a jewelry store nearby to order it. Setsuna picked it up for me when it was ready…since I was recovering from an injury."

"Thank you so much," Mileina said as she put the necklace on. She then carefully embraced Tieria, "It's one of the best gifts I've ever gotten."

Tieria smiled lightly, "I'm glad you like it," He whispered as he shut his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm going to get some sleep…" Tieria mumbled, "I'll wake up…I promise…"

"Get some sleep," Mileina said as she stroked Tieria's cheek, "I'll be right here with you okay? I'm not going to leave you alone."

"Thank you Mileina…" Tieria said as he shut his eyes to try to get some sleep.

Mileina sighed as she opened the door to Tieria's room, "We're all set," She said softly.

"Alright," Allelujah said, "Your father said that he needed your help in the hanger. He told us that it wouldn't take too long. We'll watch Tieria for you."

"Okay," Mileina said as she left the room.

"Setsuna…" Tieria muttered, "Is that you…?"

"Yeah," Setsuna said as he walked up to the bed, "What do you need?"

"I need to tell you something…" Tieria muttered, "About something I found out…"

"What is it?"

"I found the person behind everything…" Tieria said, "His name…is Ribbons Alamark…he's the leader of a group of people…called Innovators…"

"Innovators?" Allelujah asked.

"Living terminals…created by Veda," Tieria explained, "Ribbons said…that he's they're the ones…carrying out the plan…and we're the ones straying…"

"That can't be right," Allelujah said, "Tieria, they're killing innocent people. I highly doubt that the mass murder of innocent people was part of the plan."

"We…were all supposed to die…four years ago," Tieria muttered, "Ribbons was the one…who gave the Federation…the false GN-Drives…and cut our link to Veda...And I think..." He paused to catch his breath, "Ribbons…is after me…"

"What makes you say that Tieria?" Setsuna asked.

"Because…" Tieria mumbled, "I'm…one of them…"

"I won't let them take you," Setsuna said, "I'll destroy them!"

Tieria sighed, "Thank you Setsuna…" He murmured, "But the damage…has been done…I'll bet anything…that he was the one who did this to me…please…if it comes down to it…and Ribbons does find a way to…use me against you…don't be afraid…to shoot me down…"

"Alright," Setsuna said.

"Setsuna," Allelujah gasped in shock, "What are you saying?"

"Please…" Tieria whispered, "Don't tell Mileina…I don't want to worry her…"

"Okay," Setsuna said, "Get some rest Tieria. Save your strength."

Tieria nodded and slipped off into a light but fitful sleep.

"Why would you agree to shoot Tieria down?" Allelujah asked quietly, "He's our comrade."

"It's because he's our comrade that I promised to shoot him down if it comes to that," Setsuna said, "Think about it, would you rather be forced to fight your comrades or die at their hands?"

"I would rather die," Allelujah said, "I see what you mean now. But do you really think this Ribbons person is really going to come after Tieria? It could have just been speculation, Tieria's been really on edge lately. Do you think he's really in danger or was it just the illness making him say things like that?"

"I don't think he was just speculating. After we left the party, we were ambushed by Ali-Al Saachez." Setsuna said, "He seemed to know that Tieria was both injured and an Innovator. And if you and Lyle didn't come to our aid when you did, Tieria would have been captured."

"What?" Allelujah exclaimed, "So…it _is_ true then…"

"What's true?" Mileina asked as she reentered the room.

"It's nothing," Setsuna said, "We were just discussing something."

"Oh," Mileina said, "Has anything happened?"

"No," Setsuna said, "He's asleep."

"Okay," Mileina said, "You two can leave. I'll be alright watching him tonight."

"Alright," Allelujah said, "Let us know if you need us for anything."

"I will," Mileina said, "Thank you."

* * *

Several hours later Mileina woke suddenly. It was nearly two in the morning and she hadn't used the washroom in nearly seven hours. She did not want to leave Tieria alone but she didn't think she would be able to hold her bladder any longer. She looked over at the Meister. Tieria was sleeping soundly and both his breathing and heart rate were strong.

/I can leave him alone while I use the washroom/ Mileina said, /I don't think that anything will happen in a few minutes. His vitals are strong right now, he'll be fine until I come back/

* * *

When Mileina returned to Tieria's quarters not even five minutes later what she found brought terror and confusion to her entire being. As the tears streamed down her face she fumbled with her communications device.

"Noriega-san!" She cried over Ptolemaios' intercom, "It's Tieria-san…he's gone!"

* * *

Please! Don't kill me! I know I left a cliffhanger the size of the freaking universe but don't kill me! If you kill me you won't find out what happens next. So…a lot happened in that chapter didn't it? Tieria fell ill again and got much, much worse off this time. The locket Tieria gave to Mileina will play a huge part in the chapters to come. So what's going to happen now? Remember if you kill me before I get the next chapter up, you'll never find out what happens to Tieria! Until next time Minna-san, ja ne!

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


	8. Departure and Arrival

Konnichiwa Minna-san! I tried to get this chapter up as soon as possible due to the cliffhanger I left in the last chapter. I don't have much else to say about this chapter so you can get started right away!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam 00 or the characters but Veda is being nice and allowing me borrow them for a while.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Eight: Departures and Arrivals

"_Noriega-san!" _Mileina's panic stricken voice called over the intercom, "It's Tieria-san…He's gone!"

Sumeragi's eyes snapped open and she rushed out of bed. She quickly threw some clothes on then hurried to Tieria's room, /Please Tieria…don't be dead…/

"Mileina," Sumeragi called as she entered the fourth Meister's quarters, "What happened?"

"I ran to the bathroom…" Mileina sobbed uncontrollably, "And when I came back…he was gone…Tieria-san's gone!"

Sumeragi hung her head and sighed. She wanted Tieria to prove the doctor wrong and live through the night. She thought that Tieria was strong enough to overcome his illness, "Let's bring his body to the medical room," She said softly, "We'll figure out what to do when we get there."

"We can't bring his body to the medical room!" Mileina cried, "Because he's not here! Tieria-san has gone missing!"

"What?" Sumeragi gasped. She looked over at the bed and found that the once incapacitated Meister was indeed missing. "How is that possible?" Sumeragi asked, "He was almost completely paralyzed and blinded." She opened the intercom, "I need all Meisters and crew members to their station immediately!"

"_Sumeragi," _Ian called, _"The Seravee has started an unauthorized launch sequence! I tried to stop Tieria but there was something just not right about him. It was almost as if he couldn't hear me. He paid no attention to me at all. He just got in his Gundam and started the launch sequence. I tried to stop him but…he pulled his gun on me and told me to step aside."_

"Start the emergency launch sequences for the other Gundams," Sumeragi said, "I need all Meisters to report to their Gundams and launch immediately! Your mission…recover the Seravee and Tieria."

* * *

Setsuna sighed as he watched the Seravee moved away from their location. It was rather far but the Seravee was slow and at his current pace, Setsuna would catch up with the larger Gundam in just a few minutes. He opened the communication line, "Tieria," he called, "Tieria Erde, please respond."

"_Don't interfere with him," _Another voice called,_ "He's returning to where he rightfully belongs."_

"What are you talking about?" Setsuna exclaimed, "Tieria's our comrade! He belongs here, with us!"

"_You humans can't save him," _The voice said, _"You _humans_ can't even figure out what's wrong with him. _We _can save him."_

"You're an Innovator aren't you?" Setsuna sneered, "Leave him alone!"

"_So he did tell someone about us,_" The voice said, _"I'm surprised he had the strength to do so."_

"Leave him alone!" Setsuna screamed as he grabbed the Seraphim's shoulder and hip and started to pry the smaller Gundam from the larger one, "I won't let you take him!"

"_You're going to have to," _The voice called as the Seraphim activated, _"Are you going to take your comrade's life or are you going to risk your own?"_

Setsuna gasped as the Seraphim activated and attempted to shoot the Double-0 at point blank range, "You bastard!" Setsuna screamed as he just barely dodged the shot and lost an arm in the process, "What have you done to Tieria!"

"_Setsuna," _Sumeragi called as the E-sensor detected several enemy units, _"Fall back for now."_

"We can't let Tieria go with them!" Setsuna screamed. He couldn't believe the orders that he had just received.

"_There are several more enemy units approaching our location,"_ Sumeragi said, _"I don't want to leave Tieria behind but at our current strength we can't take on the Seravee, Seraphim and several enemies. Since he attacked you, odds are, Tieria is not himself right now. I'll devise a plan to get him back but for now fall back."_

Setsuna watched in regret as the Seraphim docked with the Seravee and disappeared with several GN-X units tailing it. He felt helpless. He promised Mileina that he would prevent anything from happening to Tieria. And yet, now he was forced to watch as the Seravee, with Tieria in tow, moved further and further away from their location. He felt as though he had failed both of them, Mileina _and _Tieria.

* * *

"I can't believe you let Tieria go with them!" Setsuna screamed as he entered the briefing room.

"Do you think I _wanted _to abandon Tieria?" Sumeragi yelled back, "You know just as well as I do that if Tieria activated trans-am, he would have easily been able to take the three of you out!"

"What about Seravee's autopilot?" Setsuna asked.

"Ian tried to manually take control of the Seravee several times," Sumeragi said, "But every time Tieria was able to override the autopilot."

Setsuna sighed, "Where is Mileina?" He asked.

"She's still in Tieria's room," Sumeragi said, "Feldt is with her. I'm sorry Setsuna but…with one Gundam down, I couldn't risk the other three. I couldn't let three Gundams get destroyed to rescue one. I had to do what was best for us…even if that meant letting Tieria go…"

Setsuna nodded, "I'll get him back," He said, "I won't let those bastards do what they want with Tieria Erde. Even if he is like them, he's one of us."

"Them?" Sumeragi asked, "What are you talking about Setsuna?"

"The people who took Tieria are called Innovators," Setsuna said, "From what Tieria was able to tell me, they're living terminals created by Veda. He was taken by a man named Ribbons Alamark and Tieria told me that Ribbons was probably the one who made him so ill."

"But why would this Ribbons person be after Tieria?" Sumeragi asked.

"Tieria is an Innovator as well," Setsuna said, "He told me that we were supposed to be destroyed four years ago and that we're the ones straying from the original plan."

"That can't be right," Sumeragi said, "It just can't be. And you think this Ribbons person was the one who made Tieria sick then took him from us?"

"It would make sense," Setsuna said, "Tieria seemed to think that and I was able to talk to the person who was behind Tieria's departure. He told me that Tieria was returning to where he rightfully belongs. I have a bad feeling that Tieria Erde will become one our enemies. If it comes to that, I told him that I would be the one to take his life."

Sumeragi sighed. She didn't want to deal with this so early in the morning, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that," She said, "For Mileina's sake. We'll discuss this more at a more reasonable hour, for now…would you mind keeping an eye on Mileina?"

"I already told Tieria that I would keep an eye out for Mileina," Setsuna said as he left the room.

* * *

Setsuna sighed as he found Mileina asleep on Tieria's bed. Her cheeks were flushed and damp with tears. /She must have cried herself to sleep/ Setsuna thought as he gently covered the young girl with a blanket.

"I'm sorry Mileina," He said softly as he sat down in front of the bed, "I couldn't stop Tieria Erde from leaving but I promise…I'll get him back."

* * *

When Tieria came around again he realized that something was amiss. He hadn't yet opened his eyes but something just didn't feel right.

"Oh good," A vaguely familiar male voice came, "You're finally awake. I was worried that you weren't going to wake up."

"What do you mean?" Tieria asked as he panicked slightly at the voice. He had heard the voice somewhere but he knew that it did not belong to a member of Celestial Being.

"Those _humans_ couldn't take care of you," The man said, "I was worried that they had done something to make your condition worse."

"What do you mean?" Tieria asked.

"The humans of Celestial Being," The man said, "They didn't know how to treat the illness you came down with. They were going to let you just waste away. _I _can help you."

"Why should I trust you?" Tieria asked.

"Well," The man said, "If you'll open your eyes you'll find that I was able to restore your vision in just a few short hours. I even improved your poor vision a little bit. We'll get you a new prescription for your glasses in a few days."

"Why am I here?" Tieria asked as he opened his eyes and found that he was not in his room on the Ptolemaios.

"Celestial Being was desperate to find a cure for you," The man said, "So desperate in fact that after I showed them that I could save your life, they allowed me to bring you here."

"Who are you?" Tieria asked. He recognized the voice but he couldn't figure out who it belonged too.

"We've already met on once," The man said, "I'm surprised you can't remember me."

"Ma…masaka…" Tieria gasped as things started to make sense to him, "You're lying! Celestial Being would _never_ hand me over to you…Ribbons Alamark!"

"That doesn't matter now," Ribbons said, "It is as I've told you in the past, should you stay with Celestial Being, you will die. I saved your life."

"I didn't want to be saved!" Tieria roared.

"Oh but apparently you did," Ribbons said, "You came here of your own free-will. You even attacked everyone who got in your way."

"What!" Tieria screamed as he attempted to sit up.

"Take it easy," Ribbons said, "I have yet to cure your paralysis."

"You bastard!" Tieria yelled wishing that he had the ability to move on his own, "What the hell did you do to me?"

"My, my, such language," Ribbons remarked, "I'm going to have my work cut out for me here. But eventually I will get you to do what I want you to."

"I will _never_ work for you!" Tieria roared, "I would rather die!"

"You can feel free to die when I'm done with you," Ribbons said as he injected something into Tieria's arm, "I can even kill you if you would like."

"What did you do to me?" Tieria screamed.

"Tieria Erde," Ribbons said, "You're being much too noisy for someone in your condition. I merely gave you something to quiet that foul mouth of yours. We'll talk more later…when you're feeling up to it again."

"You…bastard," Tieria gasped as an intense fatigue took control of his body.

"Calm yourself Tieria Erde," Ribbons said, "You'll learn to love it here."

Tieria wanted to respond but his mind shut down before he could get his thoughts out.

* * *

Ribbons sighed as Tieria finally lost consciousness, "You stupid boy," He muttered, "I am your leader and you _will _listen to me." He then walked out of the room and entered the lounge.

"That took a while Ribbons," Hilling said.

"Tieria Erde is not willing to help us," Ribbons said, "But he won't have much of a say in that matter."

"What are you going to do?" Hilling asked.

"Tieria's little girlfriend is still with Celestial Being," Ribbons said, "I will come up with a way for me to use that to our advantage."

"Tieria Erde has a _girlfriend_?" Hilling asked.

"I found this in his Gundam," Ribbons said as he took a small locket out of his pocket, "I'm guessing the girl in this picture has one similar."

"She's so young," Hilling said, "She's human too. He should know better than that. We can't date humans. But humans can't seem to resist our looks. Nearly every human that has ever laid eyes on me has fallen head over heels for me. It's kind of funny but also kind of sad in a way."

"Tieria Erde needs to learn that he is above the humans he has chosen to associate with," Ribbons said, "He is far too kind. I will work to drive that kindness from him."

"Well," Hilling said, "He's been forced to deal with only humans since he was activated, wasn't he? It's really no wonder he's so nice to humans. I mean even us Innovators learn from the people around us so if Tieria was only associating himself with humans than it's to be expected that he would pick up on their mannerisms. But what are you going to do about the problem that Tieria can restore his access rights without having you reactivate them?"

"I'm going to see if I can alter the code in his quantum brainwaves," Ribbons said, "And if worse comes to worse, I can kill him. He's already told me that he would rather die than work here. We're going to continue using the nanomachines you injected him with. That will substantially weaken him. The only problem is he's already getting used to them."

"Does that mean we'll have to develop new ones?" Hilling asked, "Because the ones we're using now took several months to develop."

"I don't know yet," Ribbons said, "For now we'll see what he does and how he reacts. If we need to develop new ones then we'll develop new ones."

"That sounds good," Hilling said, "And we need to figure out how to keep Tieria from knowing that his link to Veda was never completely cut off."

"Thankfully, Tieria Erde is not very good at detecting quantum brainwave signatures," Ribbons said, "He sustained a severe head injury four years ago and because of that his ability to utilize his quantum brainwaves is not what it should be. Even before he sustained the head injury he was unable to use his quantum brainwaves very well."

"You would think someone like him would be able use his abilities better," Hilling said, "I mean he was the second to be created."

"Tieria Erde isn't well educated on what it means to be an Innovator," Ribbons said, "And trying to teach him won't be an easy task either. He's stubborn and headstrong so I doubt we would be able to brainwash him effectively the way we did with Regene. I cannot easily get into Tieria's mind the way I could with Regene's. But fear not Hilling, I will not allow Tieria Erde to control us and he will always remain beneath us."

"I hope so," Hilling said, "I don't want to have to answer to anyone but you."

* * *

Regene sighed as he walked down the hallway. He had heard everything. /Odds are, Tieria won't believe me/ Regene thought, /I was right when I guessed that I was the only one who could create a direct link with Tieria. I can use that to my advantage however…Ribbons could possibly use my link to gain access to Tieria's mind. I can't let him do that…Celestial Being, more importantly, Tieria Erde and Setsuna F. Seiei play a large role in _my_ plan. And I won't let Ribbons interfere!/

Regene walked into the room where Tieria was being held. The other purpled haired Innovator looked much better than he had when Ribbons had first brought him here. Regene shuddered as he recalled that, aside from the steady rising and falling of Tieria's chest, the Meister looked almost dead. /What did Ribbons do to him?/ Regene thought as he gently placed his hand on Tieria's forehead and frowned. Just a few hours earlier, Tieria had been running an almost dangerously high fever but now Tieria's body temperature seemed normal, /In just several hours his temperature dropped several degrees…that can't be good for him/

He watched as Tieria moaned and stirred a bit in his sleep. Regene sighed a bit as he realized that he would never be as close to Tieria as the other same-type pairs. Hilling was the only person that was allowed to cling to Ribbons. If anyone else tried to do what Hilling was allowed to do, the consequences would be severe. Before Anew was sent to Celestial Being as a sleeper agent, she hardly ever left Revive's side. The two even slept in the same room. Even Bring and Devine were close. But Regene knew that Tieria was going to resist them for as long as he could. Tieria saw them as enemies and that was never going to change. Regene hated the fact that he and Tieria were on opposite sides and that was one of the reasons why he wanted to act independently from Ribbons. But that was never going to happen either.

"I know you see me as your enemy," Regene said softly, "But if we want to get rid of Ribbons, you're going to have to work with me on something. And when we're done, you can return to your comrades in Celestial Being. All I ask for is a little cooperation from you."

* * *

Mileina was slightly confused when she woke up in Tieria's room the next morning. She sat up and looked around the room a little bit. She was trying to figure out why she was in Tieria's bed, why Setsuna was asleep in a chair in front of the bed and why Tieria wasn't in his room. Then she remembered the night before.

"Seiei-san!" She cried out startling the Meister from his slumber.

"Mileina Vashti," Setsuna muttered groggily, "What's wrong?"

"Where's Tieria-san?" She exclaimed, "He went missing then you Haptism-san and Stratos-san went to get him back. So where is he?"

Setsuna hung his head, "I'm sorry," He muttered, "I couldn't get him back…he escaped and was captured."

Mileina gasped as tears welled up in her eyes again, "You are going to get him back right?" She sobbed, "He can't…fall into the hands of the enemy! He just can't! Please, tell you'll get him back!"

"I'll do my best to get him back," Setsuna said, "I promise."

"Thank you Seiei-san!" Mileina cried as she threw her arms around Setsuna's neck and sobbed into his shoulder.

"_I need all Meisters and crew members to report to the bridge," _Sumeragi's tired voice called over the intercom.

"Come on," Setsuna said, "We should go."

"It's going to be about Tieria-san isn't it?" Mileina asked.

"Probably," Setsuna said, "We're down a Meister now. And we're going to have to figure out what to do."

"I see…" Mileina muttered, "Do you think Tieria-san is going to be alright?"

"I don't honestly know," Setsuna said, "But we may end up having to fight him in the future."

Mileina gasped, "You don't mean that…do you Seiei-san?"

"Tieria seemed to think that the man behind the A-Laws and what happened to us four years ago is after him," Setsuna said, "Tieria also seemed to think that the man was going to find a way to use Tieria against us."

"What's going to happen if he does fight us?" Mileina asked, "Tieria-san helped us develop the Gundams we currently have…If he becomes our enemy he'll know how to defeat us…Seiei-san…what are we going to do?"

"Think about it Mileina," Setsuna said, "Would Tieria willingly attack us?"

"No," Mileina said, "I don't think he would."

Setsuna nodded, "In the off chance that he does attack us, I will protect him as well as everyone else," He said, "He already told me not to hesitate to pull the trigger against him."

"I…I understand…" Mileina said, "He said it to protect us, didn't he?"

"Yeah," Setsuna said, "I'll try not to let it come to that."

"Thank you Seiei-san…"

* * *

Sumeragi sighed when Setsuna and Mileina walked into the bridge, "Well, now that everyone is here, we might as well get down to business," She said, "With Tieria gone we are down a Meister and a Gundam. We also have reason to believe that he was taken by the enemy and being held captive."

"Can you locate the Seravee?" Allelujah asked, "If we can do that we will be able to go to Tieria's rescue."

"That's where we have a problem," Sumeragi said, "Seravee's tracking device has been disabled. And the only person who has the ability to do that is…"

"Tieria-san…" Mileina said softly.

Sumeragi sighed, "I really hate to have to do this but…I'm going to have to label Tieria as a traitor," She said.

"Noriega-san!" Mileina cried out, "Why would you do that! He couldn't willing leave to side with the enemy! He couldn't move at all yesterday!"

Sumeragi sighed, "Despite the circumstances," She said, "Tieria still defected. I could see if the tracking device in his Gundam was still active but it's not and seeing that he was the only one who could deactivate it…I don't have a choice."

"He could have been controlled!" Mileina screamed, "The enemy could have forced him to do it!"

Sumeragi sighed. After Tieria had made his departure, Sumeragi had not been able to get back to sleep and she didn't have the patient to deal with this at the moment. "Deactivating the tracking device is not something that can he could have done while unconscious," She said, "Unless the enemy has an extensive knowledge of how our Gundams work, Tieria had to have at least been semi-conscious to deactivate the tracking device. For now, I'll label him at the lowest level we can set for a traitor. Should we recapture him, he will be treated as a prisoner until we get more information on his situation. You also have to remember that a Gundam as well as an original GN-Drive have fallen into the enemy's hands."

"I can't believe you would do that!" Mileina screamed as she ran out of the room.

Sumeragi sighed as she turned towards the Meisters, "Please understand why I did that," She pleaded, "I know that the odds of Tieria just leaving on his own are slim but…in our line of work…we just can't take any chances…"

"I understand," Setsuna said, "You did what you had to do."

"Will someone please go after Mileina?" Sumeragi said softly, "Make sure she's alright…"

"Alright," Setsuna said, "But first, if it comes down to it, I already told Tieria that I would take his life. He wants me to do it to protect everyone here…he doesn't want to see any of us get hurt because of him. I'll try to get him back first but if I can't, then I will end his life."

"Setsuna…" Sumeragi gasped. He had told her the same thing the night before but it hadn't processed then.

"It's what Tieria wants," Setsuna said, "And as his comrades, we should honor his wishes."

Sumeragi nodded, "We'll be arriving at Lagrange three in a little bit," She said. She couldn't comment on what Setsuna had said, it was still too soon for her to deal with that. "Someone please, go make sure Mileina is alright."

"Alright," Setsuna said as he left the room to find the youngest member of the crew.

Sumeragi sighed once she was the only person left in the room. She never thought that she would have to deal with a Meister defecting, let alone Tieria defecting. Tieria was given the TRAIL system to deal with that possibility. She wasn't prepared to label one of her Meisters as a traitor, especially the one who was supposed to protect them from such a thing.

"Tieria…" She said softly aloud, "Why did it have to be you?"

* * *

So, Ribbons got a hold of Tieria. What's going to happen now? And as usual, Regene is up to something as well. What could it be…we'll find out eventually. As for Ribbons, I both love and hate him and I can't say I hate him, hate him either…If that makes any sense at all. Sumeragi's reasoning for labeling Tieria as a traitor will come into play later in the story as will Setsuna's promise. And poor Mileina…first Tieria runs off then, Sumeragi labels him as a traitor. How is she going to handle everything? Those are just a few things to ponder upon as I get the next chapter up. Until next time minna-san! Ja ne!

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


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